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PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 



AMERICAN STUDENTS 


A Course of Study in 

AMERICAN IDEALS 


Compiled by 


MERTON E. HILL, A. M., 


I 


Principal, Chaffey Union High School and Chaffey Junior College 
of Ontario, Upland, Alta Loma, Camp Baldy, Central, Cucamonga, 
Etiwanda, Fontana, Mountain View, Piedmont, California. 



HARR WAGNER PUBLISHING COMPANY 
149 New Montgomery Street 
San Francisco, Cal. 

1924 





2. 


THE AMERICAN’S CREED 


“I believe in the United States of America as a gov¬ 
ernment of the people, by the people, and for the people 
whose just powers are derived from the consent of the 
governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Na¬ 
tion of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and 
inseparable, established upon those principles of free¬ 
dom, equality, justice and humanity for which Ameri¬ 
can patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. 

“I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to 
love it, to support its constitution, to obey its law, to 
respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies. 


(( WILIAM TYLER PAGET 


Copyrighted 

by 

Merton E. Hill 
1924 


SEP -2 » 



Made in California, U. S. A. 



vi £ 'V 




DEDICATION 

To the men of the American Legion this volume of 
patriotic literature is reverently dedicated. These men 
left their homes of comfort to defend our country and 
the civilisation of the world. They did their part with a 
loyalty, with an unselfish devotion to duty, with a fer¬ 
vor, with a vision of an unsullied America that must 
forever give inspiration to our native youth and to the 
patriotic souls of the world's loyal. 


A FOREWORD 
By Edward C. Harwood 

President Board of Trustees, Chaffey Union High 
School and Chaff ey Junior College 

No nation can long survive unless the forces which 
integrate are superior to those which make for disin¬ 
tegration. 

In an increasing degree competent and far-seeing 
students of our national life are coming to believe that 
it is precisely its disintegrating elements which consti¬ 
tute the immediate crisis. 

For a number of years aliens with alien tongues and 
alien ideals have been becoming a larger and more for¬ 
midable element, and the time has come when this sub¬ 
versive influence must be met, and overcome. 

The new immigration laws partially solve one end of 
the problem, and the program of Americanization has 
been proposed as a solution of the other. 

In poetry, oratory and its historical pronouncements 
a nation becomes articulate, and in certain of our great 
poems, orations and state papers the genius of the na¬ 
tion stands supremely revealed, and her ideals shine 
forth in unmistakable significance. Hence in this pro¬ 
cess of Americanization, (a process of bringing to the 
minds of the alien our fundamental conceptions, and 
implanting in his heart our most essential desires) the 
acquaintance of those great documents should hold a 
foremost place. It is most fitting that preparation of 
a book assembling these documents for such a purpose 
should be undertaken. 

It is equally fitting that a volume which is consecrated 
by the very nature of its purpose and its contents should 
be dedicated to that group of citizens which tried out 
its patriotism in the fire of service to the nation in the 
Great War, and which today holds in its hands the des¬ 
tiny of America,—the American Legion. 


CONTENTS 

SELECTIONS FOR STUDENTS OF THE 
NINTH GRADE 

Select Documents: 

1. The Mayflower Compact. 22 

2. The Declaration of Independence. 50 

3. The Constitution . 105 

Historical Addresses: 

1. Franklin’s Examination Before the House of 

Commons ... 33 

2. Franklin’s Motion of June 8, 1787. 103 

v 3 Franklin’s Address on the Federal Constitution.. 130 

4. Andrew Jackson’s Farewell Address. 142 

5. Lincoln’s Independence Hall Address. 56 

6. Lincoln’s Reverence for Laws. 227 

7. Lincoln’s Address on Temperance. 309 

8. Lincoln’s Order for Sabbath Observance. 308 

9. Lincoln’s Proclamation for Thanksgiving. 313 

10. Lincoln’s Letter to Horace Greeley. 311 

11. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. 307 

12. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural. 315 

13. Ingersoll’s Address on Lincoln. 265 

14. Lane’s Makers of the Flag. 362 

15. Wilson’s These Lists of Honor. 379 

16. Wilson’s Soldiers of Freedom. 380 

17. Coolidge’s Proclamation on Lincoln’s Birthday.. 325 S 

Patriotic Poetry: 

1. Miller’s Columbus . 17 

2. Pierpont’s The Pilgrim Fathers. 23 

3. Bret Harte’s John Brown of Gettysburg. 303 

4. Whittier’s Poor Voter on Election Day. 391 

5. Finch’s The Blue and the Gray. 318 

6. Markham’s The Fear for Thee My Country. 145 

7. Markham’s The Need of the Hour. 422 

Special Selections: 

1. Mrs. Grace C. Stanley’s Address on Educational 

Ideals . 408 

2. Mr. A. C. Olney’s Address on All Mind. 412 

3. Parkham’s France and England in the New 

World ...... 19 

4. Red Jacket on the Religion of the White Man 

and the Red. 93 

5. Green’s Estimate of Washington. 151 

































SELECTIONS FOR STUDENTS OF THE 
TENTH GRADE 


Select Documents: 

1. The Charter of Rhode Island. 71 

2. The Ordinance of 1787. 89 

3. The Constitution . 105 

Historical Addresses: 

1. James Otis in Opposition to Writs of Assist¬ 

ance . 25 

2. Patrick Henry’s Address Before the Virginia 

Convention .-. 46 

3. Samuel Adams on American Independence. 60 

4. Hamilton’s Speech Before the New York Con¬ 

vention .* 153 

5. Webster on the Clay Compromise. 147 

6. Coolidge’s Address on George Washington. 153 

7. Lincoln’s Reply to Douglas at Galesburg. 58 

8. Lincoln’s “House Divided” Speech. 230 

9. Lincoln’s Address to the Twelfth Indiana Reg¬ 

iment .. 310 

10. Lincoln’s Address to the Citizens of Frederick.. 312 

11. Watterson’s Address on Lincoln... 290 

12. Hoge’s Address on Stonewall Jackson. 320 

13. McIUnley’s Last Speech. 345 

14. Lane’s The American Pioneer. 357 

15. Lane’s Why We Are at War. 382 

16. Wilson A People’s War. 365 

17. Wilson’s America’s Pledge . 363 

Patriotic Poetry: 

1. Holmes’ Union and Liberty. 326 

2. Emerson’s Concord Hymn. 70 

3. Longfellow’s The Arsenal at Springfield. 328 

^ 4. Markham’s Latest Lincoln Poem. 263 

5. Markham’s Our Deathless Dead. 323 

Special Addresses: 

1. Ingersoll’s Happiness and Liberty. 342 

2. Will C. Wood’s Education for Citizenship. 395 




























SELECTIONS SUPPLEMENTARY TO AMERICAN 
HISTORY AND OF VALUE IN TRACING AMER¬ 
ICAN IDEALS—(ALL ARE USEFUL IN 
ENGLISH CLASSES) 

1. Washington’s Farewell Address. 157 

2. Roosevelt's The Great Adventure. 387 

3. Lincoln’s Cooper Union Address. 231 

4. Lincoln’s First Inaugural . 149 

5. Alexander Stephens’ Address Against Secession. 257 

6. Quinn’s Armistice Day Message. 329 

7. The Monroe Doctrine Traced Through Select Docu¬ 
ments . 179 

a. Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation. 180 

b. Washington’s Fifth Annual Message. 182 

c. Jefferson’s First Inaugural. 186 

d. Madison’s Message of January 3, 1811. 188 

e. Monroe’s Message of December 2, 1823. 190 

f. Monroe’s Message of December 7, 1824. 194 

g. Tyler’s Message of December 30, 1842. 196 

h. From Polk’s Messages. 199 

i. From Buchanan’s Messages. 205 

j. From Grant’s Messages . 206 

k. From Secretary Olney’s Communication of July 

20, 1895 . 208 

l. From Cleveland’s Messages. 211 

m. From Roosevelt’s Messages. 218 

n. Secretary Hughes’ Statement . 224 

8. John Hay's Statement of the Open Door Policy. 353 

9. Arbitration Traced Through Select Documents: 

a. From Cleveland’s Messages. 330 

b. From McKinley’s Messages. 335 

c. From Roosevelt’s Messages. 337 

For further Selections consult Bibliography. 426 




























TEACHING AMERICAN IDEALS 

^Amidst the literature of the world stand forth with 
all the brightness of the stars of the firmament the sa¬ 
cred writings of America^ The government of the great 
State of California has given recognition to this in 
recent legislation that puts forever into the literature 
of the high school the patriotic writings of America’s 
greatest thinkers. The educational leader of California, 
the Hon. Will C. Wood, with his usual vision has been 
the creator of new courses that must add unforeseen 
wealth to the lives of California’s young men and wom¬ 
en. Having been interested for years in gathering to¬ 
gether the patriotic utterances of my fellow Americans, 
and being conscious of my obligations as principal of a 
public high school, I am glad to present a few of the 
great masterpieces of American patriotism . 

In history we trace America from its resolute begin¬ 
ning through the periods of crises to the present when 
all portions of the globe look to this country as to the 
land of promise. So in our course in literature we shall 
trace with the bard, with the writer of political theory, 
and with the men of action the performance of a great 
experiment, the unfolding of the destiny of the world’s 
first “government of the people, by the people, and for 
the people.” 

This course of study is suggestive of the possibility 
of gathering together patriotic writings to make more 
interesting historical study. Teachers can assign spe¬ 
cial work to students, who in turn can bring back to 


10 


TEACHING AMERICAN IDEALS 


their classes historical settings involved in the utter¬ 
ances of our patriots. 

It is hoped that this course of study will be enlarged 
during the years, that teachers and classes and citizens 
will add other political gems that the lives of our young 
people may be enriched by the thoughts of the makers 
of, America. 

iEvery American boy and girl should become patri¬ 
otic. They should be taught to glory in American 
achievement only when such achievement has been se¬ 
cured through an honest and honorable policy. They 
should be taught to look with contempt upon officials 
who betray their trust, who “contaminate their fingers 
with base bribes/’ and who are not working for the 
general good. They should be taught to decide regard¬ 
ing the right and wrong of legislative acts. And they 
should be taught never to “sit on the fence,” but to 
have clear and decided opinions on questions of honor 
and morality. 

The average pupil of our Junior or Senior High 
School is capable of grasping the more important fea¬ 
tures of the constitution of the United States. He is 
able to understand the forms of government existing 
in the world today, and the essential history of the evo¬ 
lution of popular or representative government. He is 
able through the newspapers, and through conversa¬ 
tion with men of affairs, to investigate some of the gov¬ 
ernment’s problems. He is able through a study of 
topics of current interest to acquire considerable know¬ 
ledge of national, state, county, and municipal processes. 
The aim, then, in teaching American ideals is the prep¬ 
aration of boys and girls for active citizenship. This 
can be attained through a knowledge of governmental 


TEACHING AMERICAN IDEALS 


11 


processes, through a study of topics of current interest, 
and through a reading of the great patriotic master¬ 
pieces. This kind of study will lead them to seek cor¬ 
rect judgment on official and legislative acts, and will 
spur them on to a responsible citizenship, and ultimately 
lead them to assume the obligations of citizenship. 

One of the best aids to secure interest in Civics is to 
see that a strong spirit of patriotism exists in the class. 
Such a spirit is largely the result of growth, but it can 
be stimulated as the work in American History pro¬ 
gresses. I would suggest as aids in securing healthy 
patriotic sentiment, (1) The study of eminent men; 
(2) Associating with class room work poems of Amer¬ 
ican patriotism; (3) Reading certain historical books, 
and (4) Study of current events. “Let a child,” said 
Horace Mann, “read and understand such stories as 
those of the friendship of Damon and Pythias, the in¬ 
tegrity of Aristotle, the fidelity of Regulus, the purity 
of Washington, the invincible perseverance of Frank¬ 
lin, and he will think differently and act differently all 
the days of his remaining life.” Therefore, a study by 
pupils during their impressionable age of the patriotic 
impulses of Washington, Hamilton, Jackson, Lincoln, 
Cleveland, Roosevelt, Wilson, and many of our best and 
noblest citizens, will create in young minds a desire of 
becoming great citizens. At the appropriate times in 
history there should be read the literature of the epoch 
being studied. 

With this in view it is important that teachers keep 
in mind the possible blending of the English and his¬ 
tory courses. This book has been prepared as an aid to 
both history and English teachers, and placed in the 
hands of both teachers and students, it will be found of 


12 


TEACHING AMERICAN IDEALS ' 


great value. The men of action have been clear thinkers 
and have shown themselves to be masters of our lan¬ 
guage. To me, history has been vitalized, American 
ideals have been brought out in bold and clear relief, 
and love of country has been intensified through my 
study of the literature of American History. 

“I care not how good its laws; I care not what mar¬ 
velous mechanism its constitution may embody; back 
of the government is the average manhood of our peo¬ 
ple—and in the long run we are going to go up or down 
according as the average standard of our citizens does 
or does not wax in growth and grace.”— Theodore 
Roosevelt. 

I wish to give especial recognition to my friends Mr. 
Edward C. Harwood, Mr. Howard R. Berg, Mr. C. C. 
Graber, Mr. Thomas W. Nisbet, and Mr. J. C. Jones, 
who encouraged me to compile this book, and to Mr. 
Frank F. Palmer for his aid. I wish to thank all pub¬ 
lishers who have allowed the use of their publications. 

MERTON E. HILL. 


AMERICAN LEGION 


13 


NEW FORM OF PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 
TO THE FLAG * 

You are advised that representatives of sixty-eight 
patriotic organizations met in Washington, D. C., June 
14, 1923, under the auspices of the National American¬ 
ism Commission of the American Legion, to draft an 
authentic code of flag etiquette. It was decided by the 
commission that the pledge of allegiance to the flag 
should hereafter read as follows: 

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States 
and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, in¬ 
divisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” 

AMERICAN LEGION RESOLUTIONS 

I am requested by the American Legion to bring to 
your attention the following resolutions adopted by the 
Department of California at its meeting held in Eureka 
last August. I am sure you will endorse the principles 
set forth in the resolutions and endeavor to carry out 
such principles. 

Whereas, It is a matter of general notice that on 
Memorial Day not only do all classes of people regard 
same as a holiday without special significance, but 
school teachers send forth their pupils with little or no 
appropriate reference to its origin and duties, and 

Whereas, The primary object of our great public 
school system is the development of citizenship and ven¬ 
eration for the great events of our Nation’s history; 
now therefore, be it 


14 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Resolved, By the American Legion in National Con¬ 
vention assembled, that educational leaders, universities, 
colleges and schools and officials of public instructions, 
be reminded and urged to devote a proportion of the 
various school curriculum to the proper observance of 
that holiday, and that copies of this resolution be given 
the widest possible publicity. 

Whereas, There are, in the State of California, many 
foreigners of nationalities eligible to American citizen¬ 
ship, who, by reason of their living and working almost 
exclusively with others of their own race, often pass 
their lives without learning the English language, and 

Whereas, It is the settled policy of the American 
Legion that immigrants should be admitted to our coun¬ 
try only on condition that they will proceed with due 
promptness to learn our language and acquire a suffi¬ 
cient education to enable them to become citizens of the 
United States, and 

Whereas, There is provided in the Statutes of the 
State of California a suitable system for establishing 
night schools in the public school districts of the State 
for the purpose of giving such an education to our for¬ 
eign-born and illiterate population, a more extensive 
use of which will naturally tend to accomplish the de¬ 
sired results; be it 

Resolved, Therefore, by the American Legion, De¬ 
partment of California, in annual convention assembled, 
that this Department urges the State and County De¬ 
partments of Education and the Boards of Trustees of 
the various school districts, to encourage, for the pur¬ 
pose of educating foreigners and preparing them to be¬ 
come American citizens, and be it further 

Resolved, That the work of assisting in the organiza- 


AMERICAN LEGION 


15 


tion of such night schools and spreading publicity con¬ 
cerning same be especially recommended to the Ameri¬ 
canization committees or officers of the various posts of 
the American Legion, and be it further 

Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to 
the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and to 
the various county superintendents of schools. 

Whereas, The American Legion stands for equal op¬ 
portunity for all people, and 

Whereas, An excessively high percentage of illiteracy 
has been found to exist amongst the coming generation 
of our country which can only be remedied by education; 
now therefore, be it 

Resolved, By the American Legion, Department of 
California, that this department favors and urges legis¬ 
lation that will widen and extend the compulsory edu¬ 
cation laws to the end that all children under sixteen 
years of age be required to attend school, and that 
copies of this resolution be forwarded to all parties in 
interest. 

Whereas, It is evident that a number of American 
citizens have not learned the proper use of the Ameri¬ 
can flag or the respect due that emblem, be it therefore 
Resolved, That the American Legion, in convention 
assembled, do recommend that a course of instruction 
similar to that given in a recent issue of the Legion 
Weekly, be made a part of the curriculum of the gram¬ 
mar and high schools. 

Whereas, The American Legion stands for liberty, 
justice and equal opportunity for all people, and 

Whereas, There should be but one language and one 
nationalism and that these objects can be best obtained 


16 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


by a system of education fostered and supported by the 
whole people, and 

Whereas, The public school system is best suited to 
accomplish these objects; now therefore, be it 

Resolved, By the American Legion, Department of 
California, that this department favors and urges the 
widest possible support of popular public education and 
that the principal medium of instruction be the English 
language, and that copies of this resolution be for¬ 
warded to all parties in interest. 


COLUMBUS 


17 


COLUMBUS 

By Joaquin Miller* 

Behind him lay the gray Azores, 

Behind the Gates of Hercules; 

Before him not the ghost of shores; 

Before him only shoreless seas. 

The good mate said: “Now must we pray, 
For lo! the very stars are gone, 

Brave AdmVl speak; what shall I say?” 
“Why, say: 'Sail on! sail on! and on!’ ” 

“My men grow mutinous day by day; 

My men grow ghastly, wan and weak.” 
The stout mate thought of home; a spray 
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. 
“What shall I say, brave AdmVl, say, 

If we sight naught but seas at dawn?” 
“Why, you shall say at break of day: 

'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!’ ” 

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, 
Until at last the blanched mate said: 
“Why, now not even God would know 
Should I and all my men fall dead. 

These very winds forget their way, 

For God from these dread seas is gone. 
Now speak, brave AdmVl, and say—” 

He said: “Sail on! sail on! and on!” 


♦From Selections of Joaquin Miller’s Poetry, published by Harr 
Wagner Publishing Company. 



18 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate 
“This mad sea shows his teeth tonight. 

He curls his lip, he lies in wait, 

He lifts his teeth, as if to bite! 

Brave Adm’r’l, say but one good word: 

What shall we do when hope is gone?” 

The words leapt like a leaping sword: 

“Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on! 

Then pale and worn, he paced his deck, 

And peered through darkness. Ah, that night 
Of all dark nights! And then a speck— 

A light! A light! At last a light! 

It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! 

It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. 

He gained a world; he gave that world 
Its grandest lesson: “On! sail on!” 


FRANCE AND ENGLAND 


19 


FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN THE 
NEW WORLD* 

Francis Parkman 

These banded powers pushing into the wilderness 
their indomitable soldiers and devoted priests, un¬ 
veiled the secrets of the barbarous continent, pierced 
the forests, traced and mapped out the streams, planted 
their emblems, built their forts, and claimed all as their 
own.,! New France was all head. Under king, noble, 
and Jesuit, the lank, lean body would not thrive. Even 
commerce wore the sword, decked itself with badges of 
nobility, aspired to forest seigniories and hordes of sav¬ 
age retainers. 

Along the borders of the sea an adverse power was 
strengthening and widening, with slow but steadfast 
growth, full of blood and muscle,—a body without a 
head. Each had its strength, each its weakness, each its 
own modes of vigorous life; but the one was faithful, 
the other barren, the one instinct with hope, the other 
darkening with shadows of despair. 

By name, local position and character, one of these 
communities of freemen stands forth as the most con¬ 
spicuous representatives of this antagonism,—Liberty 
and Absolutism, New England and New France. The 
one was the offspring of a triumphant government; the 
other of an oppressed and fugitive people. . . . 

^Selection from Parkman’s Introduction to “Pioneers of France in 
the New World/’ published by Little, Brown & Co. 



20 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Vitalized by the principles of its foundation, the Puri¬ 
tan commonwealth grew apace. New England was pre¬ 
eminently the land of material progress. Here the prize 
was within every man’s reach; patient industry need 
never doubt its reward; nay, in defiance of the four 
Gospels, assiduity in pursuit of gain was promoted to 
the rank of duty, and thrift and godliness were linked 
in equivocal wedlock. Politically she was free; socially 
she suffered from that subtle and searching expression 
which the dominant opinion of a free community may 
exercise over the members who compose it. As a 
whole, she grew upon the gaze of the world, a signal 
example of expansive energy. . . . 

We turn to New France and all is reversed. Here 
was a bold attempt to crush under the exactions of a 
grasping hierarchy, to stifle under the curbs and trap¬ 
pings of a feudal monarchy, a people compassed by in¬ 
fluences of the wildest freedom,—whose schools were 
the forest and the sea, whose trade was an armed barter 
with savages, and whose daily life a lesson of lawless 
independence. But this fierce spirit had its vent. The 
story of New France is from the first a story of war; 
war with the savage tribes and potent forest common¬ 
wealths; war with the encroaching powers of Heresy 
and England. Here brave, unthinking people were 
stamped with the soldier’s virtues and the soldier’s 
faults; and in their leaders were displayed, on a grand 
and novel stage, the energies, aspirations, and passions 
which belong to hopes vast and vague, ill-restricted 
powers, and stations of command. 

The growth of New England was a result of the ag¬ 
gregate efforts of a busy multitude, each in his narrow 
circle toiling for himself, to gather competence or 


FRANCE AND ENGLAND 


21 


wealth. The expansion of New France was the achieve¬ 
ment of a gigantic ambition striving to grasp a conti¬ 
nent. It was a vain attempt. Long and valiantly their 
chiefs upheld their cause, leading to battle a vassal 
population, warlike as themselves. Borne down by num¬ 
bers from without, wasted by corruption from within, 
New France fell at last; and out of her fall grew revo¬ 
lutions whose influence to this hour is felt through 
every nation of the civilized world. 

The French dominion is a memory of the past; and 
when we evoke its departed shades, they rise upon us 
from their graves in strange, romantic guise. Again 
their ghostly campfires seem to burn, and the fitful light 
is cast around on lord and vassal and black-robed priest, 
mingled with wild forms of savage warriors, knit in 
close fellowship on the same stern errand. A boundless 
vision grows upon us; an untamed continent; vast 
wastes of forest verdure; mountains silent in primeval 
sleep; river, lake, and glimmering pool; wilderness 
oceans mingling with the sky. Such was the domain 
which France conquered for civilization. Plumed hel¬ 
mets gleamed in the shade of its forests, priestly vest¬ 
ments in its dens and fastnesses of ancient barbarism. 
Men steeped in antique learning, pale with the close 
breath of the cloister, here spent the noon and evening 
of their lives, ruled savage hordes with a mild, parental 
sway, and stood serene before the direst shapes of 
death. Men of courtly nurture, heirs to the polish of a 
far-reaching ancestry, here, with their dauntless hardi¬ 
hood, put to shame the boldest sons of toil. 


22 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT 

In the name of God, Amen! We whose names are 
underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign 
Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Brit¬ 
ain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, 
etc., have undertaken for the glory of God and the ad¬ 
vancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our 
King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony 
in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, 
solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and of 
one another covenant and combine ourselves together 
into a civil body politic for our better ordering and pres¬ 
ervation, and furthermore of the ends aforesaid; and 
by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame just and 
equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices 
from time to time, as shall be thought most mete and 
convenient for the general good of the colony; unto 
which we promise all due submission and obedience. 
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our 
names, at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year 
of the reign of our sovereign Lord, King James of 
England, France and Ireland, the Eighteenth, and of 
Scotland the Fifty-fourth, Anno Domini 1620. 


PILGRIM FATHERS 


23 


v' 

t THE PILGRIM FATHERS 
By John Pierpont 

The Pilgrim Fathers,—where are they? 

The waves that brought them o’er 
Still roll in the bay, and throw their spray 
As they break along the shore; 

Still roll in the bay, as they rolled that day 
When the Mayflower moored below, 

When the sea around was black with storms, 
And white the shore with snow. 

The mists that wrapped the Pilgrim’s sleep 
Still brood upon the tide; 

And his rocks yet keep their watch by the deep 
To stay its waves or pride. 

But the snow-white sail that he gave to the gale, 
When the heavens looked dark, is gone,— 

As an angel’s wing through an opening cloud 
Is seen, and then withdrawn. 

The Pilgrim exile,—sainted name! 

The hill whose icy brow 
Rejoiced, when he came, in the morning’s flame, 
In the morning’s flame burns now. 

And the moon’s cold light, as it lay that night, 
On the hillside and the sea, 

Still lies where he laid his houseless head,— 

But the Pilgrim!—where is he? 


24 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest: 

When summer’s throned on high, 

And the world’s w&rm breast is in verdure drest, 
Go, stand on the hill where they lie. 

The earliest ray of the golden day 
On that hallowed spot is cast; 

And the evening sun, as he leaves the world, 

Looks kindly on that spot last. 

The Pilgrim spirit has not fled: 

It walks in noon’s broad light; 

And it watches the bed of the glorious dead, 

With the holy stars by night. 

It watches the bed of the brave who have bled, 

And still guards this ice-bound shore, 

Till the waves of the bay, where the Mayflower lay, 
Shall foam and freeze no more. 


WRITS OF ASSISTANCE 


25 


JAMES OTIS* 

In Opposition to Writs of Assistance 

1761 

May it please your honors, I was desired by one of 
the court to look into the books, and consider the ques¬ 
tion now before them concerning writs of assistance. 
I have, accordingly, considered it, and now appear not 
only in obedience to your order, but likewise in behalf 
of the inhabitants of this town, who have presented 
another petition, and out of regard to the liberties of 
the subject. And I take this opportunity to declare 
that, whether under a fee or not (for in such a cause 
as this I despise a fee), I will to my dying day oppose 
with all the powers and faculties God has given me all 
such instruments of slavery on the one hand, and vil¬ 
lainy on the other, as this writ of assistance is. 

It appears to me the worst instrument of arbitrary 
power, the most destructive of English liberty and the 
fundamental principles of law, that ever was found in 
an English law book. I must, therefore, beg your hon- 

*Early in our history this famous speech focused the attention of 
American Patriots on our political ideals. The following quotations 
should be noted: 

“The only principles of public conduct that are worthy a gentle¬ 
man are to sacrifice estate, ease, health, and applause, and even life, 
to the sacred calls of his country.” 

“A man’s house is his castle; and while he is quiet, he is as well 
guarded as a prince in his castle.” 

“Every man is an independent sovereign.” 

“He asserted that the security of these rights of life, liberty, and 
property had been the object of all those struggles against arbitrary 
power ... in every age.” 



26 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ors’ patience and attention to th$ whole range of argu¬ 
ment that may, perhaps, appear uncommon in many 
things, as well as to points of learning that are more 
remote and unusual; that the whole tendency of my de¬ 
sign may the more easily be perceived, the conclusions 
better descend, and the force of them be better felt. 

I shall not think much of my pains in this cause, as 
I engaged in it from principle. I was solicited to argue 
this cause as advocate-general; and because I would 
not, I have been charged with desertion from my office. 
To this charge I can give a very sufficient answer. I 
renounced that office, and I argue this cause from the 
same principle; and I argue it with the greatest pleas¬ 
ure, as it is in favor of British liberty, at a time when 
we hear the greatest monarch upon earth declaring 
from his throne that he glories in the name of Briton, 
and that the privileges of his people are dearer to him 
than the most valuable prerogatives of his crown; and 
as it is in opposition to a kind of power, the exercise 
of which, in former periods of history, cost one king of 
England his head and another his throne. I have taken 
more pains in this cause than I ever will take again, 
altho my engaging in this and another popular cause 
has raised much resentment. But I think I can sin¬ 
cerely declare that I cheerfully submit myself to every 
odious name for conscience’ sake; and from my soul I 
despise all those whose guilt, malice, or folly has made 
them my foes. Let the consequences be what they 
will, I am determined to proceed. The only princi¬ 
ples of public conduct that are worthy of a gentleman 
or a man are to sacrifice estate, ease, health, and ap¬ 
plause, and even life, to the sacred calls of his country. 

These manly sentiments, in private life, make the 


WRITS OF ASSISTANCE 


27 


good citizen; in public life, the patriot and the hero. I 
do not say that when brought to the test, I shall be in¬ 
vincible. I pray God I may never be brought to the 
melancholy trial; but if ever I should, it will be then 
known how far I can reduce to practise principles which 
I know to be founded in truth. In the meantime I will 
proceed to the subject of this writ. 

Your honors will find in the old books concerning the 
office of a justice of the peace precedents of general war¬ 
rants to search suspected houses. But in more modern 
books, you will find only special warrants to search such 
and such houses, specially named, in which the com¬ 
plainant has before sworn that he suspects his goods 
are concealed; and will find it adjudged that special 
warrants only are legal. In the same manner I rely on 
it, that the writ prayed for in this petition, being gen¬ 
eral, is illegal. It is a power that places the liberty of 
every man in the hands of every petty officer. I say I 
admit that special writs of assistance, to search special 
places, may be granted to certain persons on oath; but 
I deny that the writ now prayed for can be granted, for 
I beg leave to make some observations on the writ itself, 
before I proceed to other Acts of Parliament. 

In the first place, the writ is universal, being directed 
“to all and singular justices, sheriffs, constables, and all 
other officers and subjects”; so that, in short, it is di¬ 
rected to every subject in the king’s dominions. Every 
one with this writ may be a tyrant; if this commission 
be legal, a tyrant in a legal manner, also may control, 
imprison, or murder any one within the realm. 

In the next place, it is perpetual; there is no return. 
A man is accountable to no person for his doings. Every 
man may reign secure in his petty tyranny, and spread 


28 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


terror and desolation around him, until the trump of 
the archangel shall excite different emotions in his soul. 

In the third place, a person with this writ, in the day¬ 
time, may enter all houses, shops, etc., at will, and com¬ 
mand all to assist him. 

Fourthly, by this writ, not only deputies, etc., but 
even their menial servants, are allowed to lord it over 
us. What is this but to have the curse of Canaan with 
a witness on us; to be the servants of servants, the most 
despicable of God’s creation? 

Now one of the most essential branches of English 
liberty is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is 
his castle; and while he is quiet, he is as well guarded 
as a prince in his castle. This writ, if it should be de¬ 
clared legal, would totally annihilate this privilege. 
Custom-house officers may enter our houses when they 
please; we are commanded to permit their entry. Their 
menial servants may enter, may break locks, bars, and 
everything in their way; and whether they break 
through malice or revenge, no man, no court can in¬ 
quire. Bare suspicion without oath is sufficient. This 
wanton exercise of this power is not a chimerical sug¬ 
gestion of a heated brain. 

I will mention some facts. Mr. Pew had one of these 
writs, and when Mr. Ware succeeded him, he indorsed 
this writ over to Mr. Ware; so that these writs are 
negotiable from one officer to another, and so your 
honors have no opportunity of judging the person to 
whom this vast power is delegated. Another instance 
is this: Mr. Justice Walley had called this same Mr. 
Ware before him, by a constable, to answer for a breach 
of the Sabbath Day Acts, or that of profane swearing. 
As soon as he had finished, Mr. Ware asked him if he 


WRITS OF ASSISTANCE 


29 


was done. He replied: “Yes.” “Well, then,” said Mr. 
Ware, “I will show you a little of my power. I com¬ 
mand you to permit me to search your house for un¬ 
customed goods”; and went on to search the house from 
the garret to the cellar, and then served the constable 
in the same manner! But to show another absurdity in 
this writ, if it should be established, I insist upon it that 
every person, by the 14th of Charles II., has this power 
as well as the custom-house officers. The words are: 
“It shall be lawful for any person or persons author¬ 
ized,” etc. What a scene does this open! Every man 
prompted by revenge, ill humor, or wantonness, to in¬ 
spect the inside of his neighbor’s house, may get a 
writ of assistance. Others will ask it from self-defense; 
one arbitrary exertion will provoke another, until so¬ 
ciety be involved in tumult and in blood. 

2. “He asserted that every man, merely natural, was 
an independent sovereign, subject to no law but the law 
written on his heart and revealed to him by his Maker, 
in the constitution of his nature, and the inspiration of 
his understanding and his conscience. His right to his 
life, his liberty, no created being could rightfully con¬ 
test. Nor was his right to* his property less incontest- 
ible. The club that he had snapped from a tree, for a 
staff or for defense, was his own. His bow and arrow 
were his own; if by a pebble he had killed a partridge 
or a squirrel, it was his own. No creature, man or 
beast, had a right to take it from him. If he had taken 
an eel, or a smelt, or a sculpin, it was his property. In 
short, he sported upon this topic with so much wit and 
humor, and at the same time with so much indisputable 
truth and reason, that he was not less entertaining than 
instructive. He asserted that these rights were inherent 


30 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


and inalienable; that they never could be surrendered 
or alienated, but by idiots or madmen, and all the acts 
of idiots and lunatics were void, and not obligatory, by 
all the laws of God and man. Nor were the poor 
negroes forgotten. Not a Quaker in Philadelphia, or 
Mr. Jefferson in Virginia, ever asserted the rights of 
negroes in stronger terms. Young as I was, and 
ignorant as I was, I shuddered, and still shudder, at 
the consequences that may be drawn from such prem¬ 
ises. Shall we say that the rights of masters and serv¬ 
ants clash, and can be decided only by force? I adore 
the idea of gradual abolitions! but who shall decide how 
fast or how slowly these abolitions shall be made? 

3. “From individual independence he proceeded to 
association. If it was inconsistent with the dignity of 
human nature to say that men were gregarious animals, 
like wild geese, it surely could offend no delicacy to say 
they were social animals by nature; that there were 
natural sympathies, and, above all, the sweet attraction 
of the sexes, which must soon draw them together in 
little groups, and by degrees in larger congregations, 
for mutual assistance and defense. And this must have 
happened before any formal covenant, by express words 
or signs, was concluded. When general councils and 
deliberations commenced, the objects could be no other 
than the mutual defense and security of every individ¬ 
ual for his life, his liberty, and his property. To sup¬ 
pose them to have surrendered these in any other way 
than by equal rules and general consent was to suppose 
them idiots or madmen, whose acts were never binding. 
To suppose them surprised by fraud, or compelled by 
force into any other compact, such fraud and such force 
could confer no obligation. Every man had a right to 



WRITS OF ASSISTANCE 


31 


trample it under foot whenever he pleased. In short, 
he asserted these rights to be derived only from nature 
and the Author of nature; that they were inherent, in¬ 
alienable, and indefeasible by any laws, pacts, contracts, 
covenants, or stipulations which man could devise. 

4. “These principles and these rights were wrought 
into the English Constitution as fundamental laws. 
And under this head he went back to the old Saxon 
laws, and to Magna Charta, and the fifty confirmations 
of it in Parliament, and the executions ordained against 
the violators of it, and the national vengeance which 
had been taken on them from time to time, down to the 
Jameses and Charleses and to the Petition of Right and 
the Bill of Rights and the Revolution. He asserted that 
the security of these rights of life, liberty, and property 
had been the object of all those struggles against arbi¬ 
trary power, temporal and spiritual, civil and political, 
military and ecclesiastical, in every age. He asserted 
that our ancestors, as British subjects, and we, their de¬ 
scendants, as British subjects, were entitled to all those 
rights, by the British Constitution, as well as by the 
law of nature and our provincial charter, as much as 
any inhabitant of London or Bristol, or any part of 
England; and were not to be cheated out of them by 
any phantom of ‘virtual representation/ or any other 
fiction of law or politics, or any monkish trick of deceit 
and hypocrisy. 

5. “He then examined the Acts of Trade, one by 
one, and demonstrated that if they were considered as 
revenue laws, they destroyed all our security of prop¬ 
erty, liberty, and life, every right of nature, and the 
English Constitution, and the charter of the province. 
Here he considered the distinction between 'external 


32 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


and internal taxes/ at that time a popular and common¬ 
place distinction. But he asserted that there was no 
such distinction in theory, or upon any principle but 
'necessity/ The necessity that the commerce of the Em¬ 
pire should be under one direction was obvious. The 
Americans had been so sensible of this necessity that 
they had connived at the distinction between external 
and internal taxes, and had submitted to the Acts of 
Trade as regulations of commerce, but never as taxa¬ 
tions or revenue laws. Nor had the British government 
till now ever dared to attempt to enforce them as taxa¬ 
tions or revenue laws. They had lain dormant in that 
character for a century almost. The Navigation Act he 
allowed to be binding upon us, because we had con¬ 
sented to it by our own legislature. Here he gave a 
history of the Navigation Act of the 1st of Charles II., 
a plagiarism from Oliver Cromwell. This act had lain 
dormant for fifteen years. In 1675, after repeated let¬ 
ters and orders from the king, Governor Leverett very 
candidly informs his majesty that the law had not been 
executed, because it was thought unconstitutional, Par¬ 
liament not having authority over us.” 


FRANKLIN 


33 


FRANKLIN 

His Examination Before the House of Commons* 
1766 

Q. Are not the Colonies, from their circumstances, 
very able to pay the stamp duty? 

A. In my opinion there is not gold and silver enough 
in the Colonies to pay the stamp duty for one year. 

Q. Do you not know that the money arising from 
the stamps was all to be laid out in America? 

A. I know it is appropriated by the Act to the Amer¬ 
ican service; but it will be spent in the conquered Col¬ 
onies, where the soldiers are; not in the Colonies that 
pay it. 

Q. Do you think it right that America should be 
protected by this country and pay no part of the ex¬ 
pense ? 

A. That is not the case. The Colonies raised, clothed, 
and paid, during the last war, near twenty-five thousand 
men, and spent many millions. 

Q. Were you not reimbursed by Parliament? 

A. We were only reimbursed what, in your opinion, 
we had advanced beyond our proportion, or beyond 
what might reasonably be expected from us; and it was 
a very small part of what we spent. Pennsylvania, in 
particular, disbursed about £500,000, and the reim¬ 
bursements, in the whole, did not exceed £60,000. 

Q. Do you not think the people of America would 
submit to pay the stamp duty if it was moderated? 

A. No, never, unless compelled by force of arms. 


*This “hearing” before the House of Commons presents ideals of 
taxation, of thrift, of the courageous conduct of a great public serv¬ 
ant, and it should be re-read by all Americans. 




34 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Q. What was the temper of America toward Great 
Britain before the year 1763? 

A. The best in the world. They submitted willingly 
to the government of the Crown, and paid, in their 
courts, obedience to acts of Parliament. Numerous as 
the people are in the several old provinces they cost you 
nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies, to keep 
them in subjection. They were governed by this coun¬ 
try at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper; 
they were led by a thread. They had not only a respect, 
but an affection for Great Britain; for its laws, its cus¬ 
toms, and manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, 
that greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain 
were always treated with particular regard; to be an 
Old England man was of itself a character of some re¬ 
spect, and gave a kind of rank among us. 

Q. And what is their temper now? 

A. Oh, very much altered! 

Q. Did you ever hear the authority of Parliament to 
make laws for America questioned till lately? 

A. The authority of Parliament was allowed to be 
valid on all laws, except such as should lay internal 
taxes. It was never disputed in laying duties to regu¬ 
late commerce. 

O. In what light did the people of America used to 
consider the Parliament of Great Britain? 

A. They considered the Parliament as the great bul¬ 
wark and security of their liberties and privileges, and 
always spoke of it with the utmost respect and venera¬ 
tion. Arbitrary ministers, they thought, might pos¬ 
sibly, at times, attempt to oppress them; but they relied 
on it, that the Parliament, on application, would always 
give redress. They remembered, with gratitude, a 


FRANKLIN 


35 


strong instance of this, when a bill was brought into 
Parliament with a clause to make royal instructions 
laws in the Colonies which the House of Commons 
would not pass, and it was thrown out. 

Q. And have they not still the same respect for Par¬ 
liament ? 

A. No; it is greatly lessened. 

Q. To what causes is that owing? 

A. To a concurrence of causes; the restraints lately 
laid on their trade, by which the bringing of foreign 
gold and silver into the Colonies was prevented; the 
prohibition of making paper money among themselves, 
and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps; 
taking away, at the same time, trials by juries, and re¬ 
fusing to receive and hear their humble petitions. 

Q. Do you not think they would submit to the Stamp 
Act if it was modified, the obnoxious parts taken out, 
and the duty reduced to some particulars of small mo¬ 
ment ? 

A. No; they will never submit to it. 

Q. Was it an opinion in America before 1763 that 
the Parliament had no right to lay taxes and duties 
there ? 

A. I never heard an objection to the right of laying 
duties to regulate commerce; but a right to lay internal 
taxes was never supposed to be in Parliament, as we are 
not represented there. 

Q. On what do you found your opinion that the 
people of America made any such distinction? 

A. I know that whenever the subject has occurred 
in conversation where I have been present, it has ap¬ 
peared to be the opinion of every one that we could not 
be taxed by a Parliament wherein we were not repre- 


36 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


sented. But the payment of duties laid by an act of 
Parliament as regulations of commerce was never dis¬ 
puted. 

Q. But can you name any act of assembly or public 
act of any of your governments that made such distinc¬ 
tion? 

A. I do not know that there was any. I think there 
was never an occasion to make any such act till now 
that you have attempted to tax us; that has occasioned 
resolutions of assembly declaring the distinction, in 
which I think every assembly on the continent and every 
member in every assembly have been unanimous. 

Q. You say the Colonies have always submitted to 
external taxes, and object to the right of Parliament 
only in laying internal taxes; now can you show that 
there is any kind of difference between .the two taxes to 
the Colony on which they may be laid? 

A. I think the difference is very great. An external 
tax is a duty laid on commodities imported; that duty 
is added to the first cost and other charges on the com¬ 
modity, and, when it is offered for sale, makes a part 
of the price. If the people do not like it at that price, 
they refuse it; they are not obliged to pay it. But an 
internal tax is forced from the people without their 
consent if not laid by their own representatives. The 
Stamp Act says we shall have no commerce, make no 
exchange of property with each other, neither purchase 
nor grant, nor recover debts; we shall neither marry 
nor make our wills, unless we pay such and such sums; 
and then it is intended to extort our money from us or 
ruin us by the consequence of refusing to pay it. 

Q. But supposing the external tax or duty to be laid 
on the necessaries of life imported into your Colony; 


FRANKLIN 


37 


will not that be the same thing in its effects as an in¬ 
ternal tax? 

A. I do not know a single article imported into the 
northern Colonies but what they can either do without 
or make themselves. 

Q. Do you not think cloth from England absolutely 
necessary to them? 

A. No, by no means absolutely necessary; with in¬ 
dustry and good management, they may very well sup¬ 
ply themselves with all they want. 

Q. Will it not take a long time to establish that 
manufacture among them; and must they not, in the 
meanwhile suffer greatly? 

A. I think not. They have made surprising prog¬ 
ress already. And I am of the opinion that before their 
old clothes are worn out they will have new ones of 
their own making. 

Q. Can they possibly find wool enough in North 
America ? > 

A. They have taken steps to increase the wool. They 
entered into general combinations to eat no more lamb, 
and very few lambs were killed last. year. This course 
persisted in will soon make a prodigious difference in 
the quantity of wool. And the establishment of great 
manufactories, like those in the clothing towns here, is 
not necessary as it is where the business is to be carried 
on for the purposes of trade. The people will all spin 
and work for themselves in their own houses. 

Q. Considering the resolutions of Parliament, as to 
the right; do you think if the Stamp Act is repealed 
that the North Americans will be satisfied? 

A. I believe they will. 

Q. Why do you think so ? 



38 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


A. I think the resolutions of right will give them 
very little concern if they are never attempted to be 
carried into practise. The Colonies will probably con¬ 
sider themselves in the same situation in that respect 
with Ireland; they know you claim the same right with 
regard to Ireland, but you never exercise it. And they 
may believe you never will exercise it in the Colonies 
any more than in Ireland, unless on some very extraor¬ 
dinary occasion. 

Q. But who are to be the judges of that extraor¬ 
dinary occasion? Is not the Parliament? 

A. Tho the Parliament may judge of the occasion, 
the people will think it can never exercise such right 
till representatives from the Colonies are admitted into 
Parliament; and that, whenever the occasion arises, rep¬ 
resentatives will be ordered. 

Q. Can anything less than a military force carry the 
Stamp Act into execution? 

A. I do not see how a military force can be applied 
to that purpose. 

Q. Why may it not? 

A. Suppose a military force sent into America; they 
will find nobody in arms; what are they then to do? 
They can not force a man to take stamps who chooses 
to do without them. They will not find a rebellion; they 
may, indeed, make one. 

Q. If the act is not repealed, what do you think will 
be the consequences? 

A. A total loss of the respect and affection the peo¬ 
ple of America bear to this country, and of all the com¬ 
merce that depends on that respect and affection. 

Q. How can the commerce be affected? 

A. You will find that if the Act is not repealed they 


FRANKLIN 


39 


will take very little of your manufactures in a short 
time. 

Q. Is it in their power to do without them? 

A. I think they may very well do without them. 

Q. Is it to their interest not to take them? 

A. The goods they take from Britain are either 
necessaries, mere conveniences, or superfluities. The 
first, as cloth, etc., with a little industry, they can make 
at home; the second they can do without till they are 
able to produce them among themselves; and the last, 
which are much the greatest part, they will strike off 
immediately. They are mere articles of fashion, pur¬ 
chased and consumed because the fashion in a respected 
country, but will now be detested and rejected. The 
people have already struck off, by general agreement, 
the use of all goods fashionable in mourning, and many 
thousand pounds’ worth are sent back as unsalable. 

Q. Then no regulation with a tax would be submit¬ 
ted to? 

A. Their opinion is that when aids to the Crown are 
wanted they are to be asked of the several assemblies 
according to the old-established usage, who will, as 
they always have done, grant them freely, and that 
their money ought not to be given away without their 
consent, by persons at a distance, unacquainted with 
their circumstances and abilities. The granting aids to 
the Crown is the only means they have of recommend¬ 
ing themselves to their.sovereign, and they think it ex¬ 
tremely hard and unjust that a body of men in which 
they have no representatives should make a merit to 
itself of giving and granting what is not its own but 
theirs, and deprive them of a right they esteem of the 


40 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


utmost value and importance, as it is to the security of 
all their other rights. 

Q. Supposing the Stamp Act continued and en¬ 
forced, do you imagine that ill humor will induce the 
Americans to give as much for worse manufactures of 
their own, and use them, preferably to better of ours? 

A. Yes, I think so. People will pay as freely to 
gratify one passion as another—their resentment as 
their pride. 

Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would not 
the Americans think they could oblige the Parliament 
to repeal every external tax-law now in force? 

A. It is hard to answer questions of what people at 
such a distance will think. 

Q. But what do you imagine they will think were 
the motives of repealing the Act? 

A. I suppose they will think that it was repealed 
from a conviction of its inexpediency; and they will 
rely upon it that while the same inexpediency subsists 
you will never attempt to make such another. 

Q. What do you mean by its inexpediency ? 

A. I mean its inexpediency on several accounts: the 
poverty and ability of those who were to pay the tax, 
the general discontent it has occasioned, and the im¬ 
practicability of enforcing it. 

Q. But if the legislature should think fit to ascertain 
its right to lay taxes by any act laying a small tax, con¬ 
trary to their opinion, would they submit to pay the 
tax ? 

A. The proceedings of the people of America have 
been considered too much together. The proceedings of 
the assemblies have been very different from those of 
the mobs, and should be distinguished as having no 


FRANKLIN 


41 


connection with each other. The assemblies have only 
peaceably resolved what they take to be their rights; 
they have taken no measures for opposition by force, 
they have not built a fort, raised a man, or provided a 
grain of ammunition, in order to such opposition. The 
ring-leaders of riots, they think, ought to be punished; 
they would punish them themselves if they could. Every 
sober, sensible man would wish to see rioters punished, 
as otherwise peaceable people have no security of per¬ 
son or estate; but as to an internal tax, how small so¬ 
ever, laid by the legislature here on the people there, 
while they have no representatives in this legislature, 
I think it will never be submitted to; they will oppose 
it to the last; they do not consider it as at all neces¬ 
sary for you to raise money on them by your taxes, be¬ 
cause they are, and always have been, ready to raise 
money by taxes among themselves and to grant large 
sums, equal to their abilities, upon requisition from the 
Crown. They have not only granted equal to their abil¬ 
ities, but during all the last war they granted far be¬ 
yond their abilities, and beyond their proportion with 
this country (you yourselves being judges) to the 
amount of many hundred thousand pounds; and this 
they did freely and readily, only on a sort of promise 
from the secretary of state that it should be recom¬ 
mended to Parliament to make them compensation. It 
was accordingly recommended to Parliament in the 
most honorable manner for them. America has been 
greatly misrepresented and abused here, in papers and 
pamphlets and speeches, .... as ungrateful and un¬ 
reasonable and unjust; in having put this nation to 
immense expense for their defense, and refusing to bear 
any part of that expense. The Colonies raised, paid, 





42 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


and clothed near twenty-five thousand men during the 
last war—a number went deeply into debt in doing this, 
and all their taxes and estates are mortgaged for many 
years to come for discharging that debt. 

Q. But suppose Great Britain should be engaged in 
a war in Europe, would North America contribute to 
the support of it? 

A. I do think they would, as far as their circum¬ 
stances would permit. They consider themselves as a 
part of the British Empire, and as having one common 
interest with it; they may be looked on here as for¬ 
eigners, but they do not consider themselves as such. 
They are zealous for the honor and prosperity of this 
nation, and while they are well used will always be 
ready to support it as far as their little power goes. 
In 1739 they were called upon to assist in the expedi¬ 
tion against Cartagena, and they sent three thousand 
men to join your army. It is true Cartagena is in 
America, but as remote from the northern Colonies as 
if it had been in Europe. They make no distinction of 
wars as to their duty of assisting in them. I know the 
last war is commonly spoken of here as entered into 
for the defense or for the sake of the people in Amer¬ 
ica. I think it is quite misunderstood. It began about 
the limits between Canada and Nova Scotia, about ter¬ 
ritories to which the Crown indeed laid claim, but which 
were not claimed by any British Colony; none of the 
lands had been granted to any colonist; we had, there¬ 
fore, no particular interest or concern in that dispute. 
As to the Ohio, the contest there began about your 
right of trading in the Indian country, a right you had 
by the treaty of Utrecht, which the French infringed; 
they seized the traders and their goods, which were 


FRANKLIN 


43 


your manufactures; they took a fort which a company 
of your merchants and their factors and correspondents 
had erected there to secure that trade. Braddock was 
sent with an army to retake that fort (which was looked 
on here as another encroachment on the king's terri¬ 
tory) and to protect your trade. It was not till after 
his defeat that the Colonies were attacked. They were 
before in perfect peace with both French and Indians; 
the troops were not, therefore, sent for their defense. 
The trade with the Indians, tho carried on in America, 
is not an American interest. The people of America 
are chiefly farmers and planters; scarce anything that 
they raise or produce is an article of commerce with 
the Indians. The Indian trade is a British interest; 
it is carried on with British manufactures, for the profit 
of British merchants and manufacturers; therefore, 
the war, as it commenced for the defense of territories 
of the Crown (the property of no American) and for 
the defense of a trade purely British, was really a Brit¬ 
ish war—and yet the people of America made no scru¬ 
ple of contributing their utmost toward carrying it on, 
and bringing it to a happy conclusion. 

Q. Do you think the assemblies have a right to levy 
money on the subject there to grant to the Crown? 

A. I certainly think so; they have always done it. 

Q. Are they acquainted with the Declaration of 
Rights? And do they know that, by that Statute, 
money is not to be raised on the subject but by con¬ 
sent of Parliament? 

A. They are very well acquainted with it. 

Q. How, then, can they think they have a right to 
levy money for the Crown or for any other than local 
purposes ? 


44 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


A. They understand that clause to relate to subjects 
only within the realm; that no money can be levied on 
them for the Crown but by consent of Parliament. The 
Colonies are not supposed to be within the realm; they 
have assemblies of their own, which are their parlia¬ 
ments, and they are, in that respect, in the same situa¬ 
tion with Ireland. When money is to be raised for the 
Crown upon the subject in Ireland, or in the Colonies, 
the consent is given in the Parliament of Ireland or in 
the assemblies of the Colonies. They think the Parlia¬ 
ment of Great Britain can not properly give that con¬ 
sent till it has representatives from America, for the 
Petition of Right expressly says it is to be by common 
consent in Parliament, and the people of America have 
no representatives in Parliament to make a part of that 
common consent. 

Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, and the 
Crown should make a requisition to the Colonies for a 
sum of money, would they grant it? 

A. I believe they would. 

Q. Why do you think so? 

A. I can speak for the Colony I live in. I had it 
in instruction from the Assembly to assure the min¬ 
istry that as they always had done, so they' should 
always think it their duty to grant such aids to the 
Crown as were suitable to their circumstances and abil¬ 
ities, whenever called upon for that purpose, in the 
usual constitutional manner; and I had the honor of 
communicating this instruction to that honorable gen¬ 
tleman then minister. 

Q. Would they do this for a British concern, as 
suppose a war in some part of Europe, that did not 
affect them? 




FRANKLIN 


45 


A. Yes; for anything that concerned the general in¬ 
terest. They consider themselves as part of the whole. 

Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would it 
induce the assemblies of America to acknowledge the 
rights of Parliament to tax them, and would they erase 
their resolutions? 

A. No, never! 

Q. Are there no means of obliging them to erase 
those resolutions? 

A. None that I know of; they will never do it, un¬ 
less compelled by force of arms. 

Q. Is there a power on earth that can force them 
to erase them? 

A. No power, how great soever, can force men to 
change their opinions. 

Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans? 

A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of 
Great Britain. 

Q. What is now their pride? 

A. To wear their old clothes over again till they can 
make new ones. 


46 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


PATRICK HENRY 

Speech Before the Second Revolutionary Convention 
of Virginia 

March 23, 1775 

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriot¬ 
ism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen 
who have just addressed the House. But different men 
often see the same subject in different lights; and, there¬ 
fore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those 
gentlemen if, entertaining as 1 do opinions of a charac¬ 
ter very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sen¬ 
timents freely and without reserve. This is no time 
for ceremony. 

The question before the House is one of awful mo¬ 
ment to this country. For my own part, I consider it 
as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; 
and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought 
to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in that way 
that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great 
responsibility which we hold to God and our country. 
Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through 
fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as 
guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of 
disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I re¬ 
vere above all earthly kings. 

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the 
illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against 
a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till 
she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise 
men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for lib- 


PATRICK HENRY 


47 


erty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those 
who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, 
the things which so nearly concern their temporal sal¬ 
vation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it 
may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to 
know the worst, and to provide for it. 

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, 
and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way 
of judging of the future but by the past. And judging 
by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the 
conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years 
to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been 
pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that 
insidious smile with which our petition has been lately 
received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to 
your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with 
a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of 
our petition comports with those war-like preparations 
which cover our waters and darken our land. Are 
fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and re¬ 
conciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling 
to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back 
our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are 
the implements of war and subjugation; the last argu¬ 
ments to which kings resort. 

I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, 
if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can 
gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has 
Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world 
to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? 
No, sir; she has none. They are meant for us; they 
can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind 
and rivet upon us those chains which the British min- 


48 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


istry have been so long forging. And what have we 
to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we 
have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we 
anything new to offer upon this subject? Nothing. 
We have held the subject up in every light of which it 
is capable; but it has been all in vain. 

Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? 
What terms shall we find which have not been already 
exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive our¬ 
selves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could 
be done, to avert the storm which is now coming on. 
We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have 
supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the 
throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the 
tyrannical hands of the ministry of Parliament. Our 
petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have 
produced additional violence and insult; our supplica¬ 
tions have been disregarded, and we have been spurned, 
with contempt, from the foot of the throne! 

In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond 
hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer 
any room for hope. If we wish to be free—if we mean 
to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for 
which we have been so long contending—if we mean 
not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we 
have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged 
ourselves never to abandon, until the glorious object of 
our contest shall be obtained—we must fight! I repeat 
it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the 
God of Hosts is all that is left us! 

They tell us, sir, that we are weak—unable to cope 
with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we 
be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next 


PATRICK HENRY 


49 


year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and 
when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? 
Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? 
Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by 
lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive 
phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound 
us hand and foot? 

Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those 
means which the God of nature has placed in our power. 
Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of lib¬ 
erty, and in such a country as that which we possess, 
are invincible by any force which our enemy can send 
against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles 
alone. There is a just God who presides over the des¬ 
tinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight 
our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong 
alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Be¬ 
sides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough 
to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. 
There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our 
chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on 
the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let 
it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! 

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen 
may cry, Peace, Peace—but there is no peace. The war 
is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the 
north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding 
arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why 
stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? 
What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so 
sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and 
slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what 
course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty 
or give me death! 


50 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
In Congress, July 4, 1776 

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United 
States of America 

When in the course of human events, it becomes nec¬ 
essary for one people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to as¬ 
sume among the powers of the earth, the separate and 
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Na¬ 
ture’s God entitles them, a decent respect to the opin¬ 
ions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Cre¬ 
ator with certain un-alienable Rights, that among these 
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That 
to secure these rights, Governments are instituted 
among men, deriving their just powers from the con¬ 
sent of the governed.—That whenever any Form of 
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the 
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to in¬ 
stitute new Government, laying its foundation on such 
principles and organizing its powers in such form, as 
to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety 
and happiness. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long 
established should not be changed for light and tran¬ 
sient causes; and accordingly all experience hath 
shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 51 


evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abol¬ 
ishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But 
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing 
invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce 
them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is 
their duty, to throw off such Government, and to pro¬ 
vide new guards for their future security. 

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Col¬ 
onies; and such is now the necessity which constrains 
them to alter their former systems of government. The 
history of the present King of Great Britain is a his¬ 
tory of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in 
direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny 
over these States. To prove this, let facts be submit¬ 
ted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws, the most whole¬ 
some and necessary for the public good. He has for¬ 
bidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their opera¬ 
tion till his assent should be obtained; and when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommoda¬ 
tion of large districts of people, unless those people 
would relinquish the right of representation in the leg¬ 
islature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to 
tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies 
at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the 
depository of their public records, for the sole purpose 
of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.— 
He has dissolved representative Houses repeatedly, for 
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the 
rights of the people.—He has refused for a long time, 
after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; 


52 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihila¬ 
tion, have returned to the people at large for their ex¬ 
ercise; the state remaining in the mean time exposed 
to all the dangers of invasion from without, and con¬ 
vulsions within.—He has endeavoured to prevent the 
population of these states; for that purpose obstructing 
the laws of naturalization of foreigners; refusing to 
pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and 
raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.— 
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by re¬ 
fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary pow¬ 
ers.—He has made judges dependent on his will alone, 
for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and pay¬ 
ment of their salaries.—He has erected a multitude of 
new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass 
our people, and eat out their substance.—He has kept 
among us, in times of peace, standing armies without 
the consent of our legislatures.—He has affected to ren¬ 
der the military independent of and superior to the civil 
power.—He has combined with others to subject us to 
a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unac¬ 
knowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts 
of pretended legislation:—For quartering large bodies 
of armed troops among us:—For protecting them, by 
a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which 
they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:— 
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:— 
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:—For 
depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by 
jury:—For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for 
pretended. offences:—For abolishing the free system of 
English laws in a neighboring province, establishing 
therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 53 


boundaries so as to render it at once an example and 
fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule 
into these Colonies:—For taking away our charters, 
abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering funda¬ 
mentally the forms of our governments:—For suspend¬ 
ing our legislatures, and declaring themselves invested 
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsover.— 
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out 
of his protection and waging war against us.—He has 
plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.—He is 
at this time transporting large armies of foreign mer¬ 
cenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and 
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous 
ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized na¬ 
tion.—He has constrained our fellow citizens taken cap¬ 
tive on the high seas to bear arms against their coun¬ 
try, to become the executioners of their friends and 
brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.—He has 
excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has en¬ 
deavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, 
the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of war¬ 
fare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes 
and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions we 
have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: 
Our repeated petitions have been answered only by re¬ 
peated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus mark¬ 
ed by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to 
be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been want¬ 
ing in attentions to our British brethren. We have 
warned them from time to time of attempts by their 
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over 


54 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of 
our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed 
to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have 
conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to 
disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably in¬ 
terrupt our connections and correspondence. They too 
have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consan¬ 
guinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the neces¬ 
sity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, 
as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in 
peace, friends.— 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United 
States of America, in general Congress, assembled, 
appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the 
recitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by au¬ 
thority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly 
publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, 
and of right ought to be free and independent states; 
that they are absolved from all alliance to the British 
Crown, and that all political connection between them 
and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be 
totally dissolved; and that as free and independent 
states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all 
other acts and things which independent states may of 
right do. 

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm 
reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mu¬ 
tually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and 
our sacred Honor. 


JOHN HANCOCK. 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 55 


Josiah Bartlett 
Wm. Whipple 
Sam’l. Adams 
John Adams 
Robt. Treat Paine 
Elbridge Gerry 
Step. Hopkins 
William Ellery 
Roger Sherman 
Samel. Huntington 
W 111 . Williams 
Robt. Morris 
Benjamin Rush 
Benja. Franklin 
John Morton 
Geo. Clymer 
Jas. Smith 
Geo. Taylor 
James Wilson 
Geo. Ross 
Caesar Rodney 
Geo. Read 
Tho. M. Kean 
Samuel Chase 
Wm. Paca 
Thos. Stone 
Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton 
George Wythe 


Oliver Wolcott 
Matthew Thornton 
Wm. Floyd 
Phil. Livingston 
Frans. Lewis 
Lewis Morris 
Richd. Stockton 
Jno. Witherspoon 
Fras. Hopkinson 
John Hart 
Abra Clark 
Richard Henry Lee 
Th. Jefferson 
Benja. Harrison 
Thos. Nelson, Jr. 
Francis Lightfoot Lee 
Carter Braxton 
Wm. Hooper 
Joseph Hewes 
John Penn 
Edward Rutledge 
Thos. FIeyward, Junr. 
Thomas Lynch, Junr. 
Arthur Middleton 
Button Gwinnett 
Lyman Hall 
Geo. Walton 


56 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


LINCOLN’S ADDRESS, INDEPENDENCE 
HALL, PHILADELPHIA* 

February 22, 1861 

I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself stand¬ 
ing in this place, where were collected together the wis¬ 
dom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle, from 
which sprang the institutions under which we live. 
You have kindly suggested to me that in my hands is 
the task of restoring peace to our distracted country. 
I can say in return, sir, that all the political sentiments 
I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been 
able to draw them, from the sentiments which origi¬ 
nated in and were given to the world from this hall. 
I have never had a feeling politically, that did not spring 
from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of 
Independence. I have often pondered over the dangers 
which were incurred by the men who assembled here 
and framed and adopted that Declaration. I have pon¬ 
dered over the toils that were endured by the officers 
and soldiers of the army who achieved that independ¬ 
ence. I have often inquired of myself what great prin¬ 
ciple or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long 
together. It was not the mere matter of the separation 
of the colonies from the motherland, but that sentiment 

♦What the Declaration of Independence means to us Americans 
has never been more clearly set forth than by Lincoln In his address 
in Independence Hall, February 22, 1861. Lincoln on many occasions 
analyzed this great document. 



LINCOLN’S ADDRESS 


57 


in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty 
not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all 
the world, for all future time. It was that which gave 
promise that in due time the weights would be lifted 
from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have 
an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in 
the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, 
can this country be saved on that basis? If it can, I 
will consider myself one of the happiest men in the 
world if I can help to save it. If it cannot be saved on 
that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this coun¬ 
try cannot be saved without giving up that principle, 
I was about to say I would rather be assassinated on 
this spot than surrender it. Now, in my view of the 
present aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed 
and war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in 
favor of such a course; and I may say in advance that 
there will be no bloodshed unless it is forced upon the 
government. The government will not use force, un¬ 
less force is used against it. 

My friends, this is wholly an unprepared speech. I 
did not expect to be called on to say a word when I 
came here. I supposed I was merely to do something 
toward raising a flag. I may, therefore, have said 
something indiscreet. But I have said nothing but 
what I am willing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure 
of Almighty God, to die by. 


58 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


FROM LINCOLN'S REPLY TO DOUGLAS AT 
GALESBURG 

October 7, 1858 

The judge has alluded to the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence, and insisted that negroes are not included 
in that Declaration; and that it is a slander upon the 
framers of that instrument to suppose that negroes are 
meant therein; and he asks you: Is it possible to be¬ 
lieve that Mr. Jefferson, who penned the immortal pa¬ 
per, could have supposed himself applying the language 
of that instrument to the negro race, and yet held a por¬ 
tion of that race in slavery? Would he not at once 
have freed them? I only have to remark upon this part 
of the judge’s speech (and that, too, very briefly, for I 
shall not detain myself, or you, upon that point for any 
great length of time), that I believe the entire records 
of the world, from the date of the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence up to within three years ago, may be searched 
in vain for one single affirmation, from one single man, 
that the negro was not included in the Declaration of 
Independence; I think I may defy Judge Douglas to 
show that he ever said so, that Washington ever said 
so, that any President ever said so, that any member 
of Congress over said so, or that any living man upon 
the whole earth ever said so, until the necessities of the 
present policy of the Democratic party in regard to 
slavery had to invent that affirmation. And I will re- 


ON AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 


59 


mind Judge Douglas and this audience that while Mr. 
Jefferson was the owner of slaves, as undoubtedly he 
was, in speaking upon this very subject, he used the 
strong language that “He trembled for his country 
when he remembered that God was just”; and I will 
offer the highest premium in my power to Judge Doug¬ 
las if he will show that he, in all his life, ever uttered 
a sentiment at all akin to that of Jefferson. 


60 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


SAMUEL ADAMS 
On American Independence 
August 1, 1776 

Our forefathers, his said, consented to be subject to 
the laws of Great Britain. I will not at the present time 
dispute it, nor mark out the limits and conditions of 
their submission; but will it be denied that they con¬ 
tracted to pay obedience and to be under the control of 
Great Britain because it appeared to them most bene¬ 
ficial in their then present circumstances and situations ? 
We, my countrymen, have the same right to consult and 
provide for our happiness which they had to promote 
theirs. If they had a view to posterity in their con¬ 
tracts, it must have been to advance the felicity of their 
descendants. If they erred in their expectations and 
prospects, we can never be condemned for a conduct 
which they would have recommended had they foreseen 
our present condition. 

Ye darkeners of counsel, who would make the prop¬ 
erty, lives, and religion of millions depend on the eva¬ 
sive interpretations of musty parchments; who would 
send us to antiquated charters of uncertain and contra¬ 
dictory meaning, to prove that the present generation 
are not bound to be victims to cruel and unforgiving 
despotism,—tell us whether our pious and generous an¬ 
cestors bequeathed to us the miserable privilege of hav¬ 
ing the rewards of our honesty, industry, the fruits of 


ON AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 


61 


those fields which they purchased and bled for, wrested 
from us at the will of men over whom we have no 
check. Did they contract for us that, with folded arms, 
we should expect that justice and mercy from brutal 
and inflamed invaders which have been denied to our 
supplications at the foot of the throne? Were we to 
hear our character as a people ridiculed with indiffer¬ 
ence? Did they promise for us that our meekness and 
patience should be insulted, our coasts harassed, our 
towns demolished and plundered, and our wives and 
offspring exposed to nakedness, hunger, and death, 
without our feeling the resentment of men, and ex¬ 
erting those powers of self - preservation which God 
has given us? 

No man had once a greater veneration for English¬ 
men than I entertained. They were dear to me as 
branches of the same parental trunk, and partakers of 
the same religion and laws; I still view with respect 
the remains of the Constitution as I would a lifeless 
body which had once been animated by a great and 
heroic soul. But when I am aroused by the din of 
arms; when I behold legions of foreign assassins paid 
by Englishmen to imbrue their hands in our blood; 
when I tread over the uncoffined bodies of my country¬ 
men, neighbors, and friends; when I see the locks of 
a venerable father torn by savage hands, and a feeble 
mother, clasping her infants to her bosom, and on her 
knees imploring their lives from her own slaves,- whom 
Englishmen have allured to treachery and murder; 
when I behold my country, once the seat of industry, 
peace, and plenty, changed by Englishmen to a theater 
of blood and misery, Heaven forgive me if I can not 
root out those passions which it has implanted in my 


62 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


bosom, and detest submission to a people who have 
either ceased to be human, or have not virtue enough 
to feel their own wretchedness and servitude! 

Men who content themselves with the semblance of 
truth, and a display of words talk much of our obliga¬ 
tions to Great Britain for protection. Had she a single 
eye to our advantage? A nation of shopkeepers are 
very seldom so interested. Let us not be so amused 
with words! the extension of her commerce was her 
object. When she defended our coasts, she fought for 
her customers, and convoyed our ships loaded with 
wealth, which we had acquired for her by our industry. 
She has treated us as beasts of burden, whom the lordly 
masters cherish that they may carry a greater load. 
Let us inquire also against whom she has protected us ? 
Against her own enemies with whom we had no quar¬ 
rel, or only on her account, and against whom we 
always readily exerted our wealth and strength when 
they were required. Were these Colonies backward 
in giving assistance to Great Britain, when they were 
called upon in 1739 to aid the expedition against Car¬ 
tagena? They at that time sent three thousand men 
to join the British army, altho the war commenced 
without their consent. 

But the last war, ’tis said, was purely American. 
This is a vulgar error, which, like many others, has 
gained credit by being confidently repeated. The dis¬ 
pute between the courts of Great Britain and France 
related to the limits of Canada and Nova Scotia. The 
controverted territory was not claimed by any in the 
Colonies, but by the crown of Great Britain." It was 
therefore their own quarrel. The infringement of a 
right which England had, by the treaty of Utrecht, of 


ON AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 


63 


trading in the Indian country of Ohio, was another 
cause of the war. The French seized large quantities 
of British manufactures and took possession of a fort 
which a company of British merchants and factors had 
erected for the security of their commerce. The war was 
therefore waged in defense of lands claimed by the 
Crown, and for the protection of British property. The 
French at that time had no quarrel with America, and, 
as appears by letters sent from their commander-in¬ 
chief to some of the Colonies, wished to remain in 
peace with us. 

The part, therefore, which we then took, and the mis¬ 
eries to which we exposed ourselves ought to be charged 
to our affection to Britain. These Colonies granted 
more than their proportion to the support of the war. 
They raised, clothed, and maintained nearly twenty-five 
thousand men, and so sensible were the people of Eng¬ 
land of our great exertions that a message was annually 
sent to the Blouse of Commons purporting “that his 
majesty, being highly satisfied with the zeal and vigor 
with which his faithful subjects in North America had 
exerted themselves in defense of his majesty’s just 
rights and possessions, recommends it to the House to 
take the same into consideration and enable him to give 
them a proper compensation.” 

But what purpose can arguments of this kind answer? 
Did the protection we received annul our rights as men, 
and lay us under an obligation of being miserable? 

Who among you, my countrymen, that is a father, 
would claim authority to make your child a slave be¬ 
cause you had nourished him in infancy? 

’Tis a strange species of generosity which requires a 
return infinitely more valuable than anything it could 


64 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


have bestowed; that demands as a reward for a defense 
of our property a surrender of those inestimable privi¬ 
leges to the arbitrary will of vindictive tyrants, which 
alone give value to that very property. 

Courage, then, my countrymen; our contest is not 
only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether 
there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for 
civil and religious liberty. Dismissing, therefore, the 
justice of our cause as incontestable, the only question 
is, What is best for us to pursue in our present cir¬ 
cumstances ? 

The doctrine of dependence on Great Britain is, I 
believe, generally exploded; but as I would attend to 
the honest weakness of the simplest of men, you will 
pardon me if I offer a few words on that subject. 

We are now on this continent, to the astonishment 
of the world, three millions of souls united in one cause. 
We have large armies, well disciplined and appointed, 
with commanders inferior to none in military skill, and 
superior in activity and zeal. We are furnished with 
arsenals and stores beyond our most sanguine expec¬ 
tations, and foreign nations are waiting to crown our 
success by their alliances. There are instances of, I 
would say, an almost astonishing providence in our 
favor; our success has staggered our enemies, and 
almost given faith to infidels; so we may truly say it 
is not our arm which has saved us. 

The hand of Heaven appears to have led us on to be, 
perhaps, humble instruments and means in the great 
providential dispensation which is completing. We 
have fled from the political Sodom; let us not look back 
lest we perish and become a monument of infamy and 
derision to the world. For can we ever expect more 


ON AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 


65 


unanimity and a better preparation for defense; more 
infatuation of counsel among our enemies, and more 
valor and zeal among ourselves? The same force and 
resistance which are sufficient to procure us our liber¬ 
ties will secure us a glorious independence and support 
us in the dignity of free imperial States. We can not 
suppose that our opposition has made a corrupt and 
dissipated nation more friendly to America, or created 
in them a greater respect for the rights of mankind. 
We can therefore expect a restoration and establish¬ 
ment of our privileges, and a compensation for the in¬ 
juries we have received from their want of power, from 
their fears, and not from their virtues. The unanimity 
and valor which will effect an honorable peace can ren¬ 
der a future contest for our liberties unnecessary. He 
who has strength to chain down the wolf is a madman 
if he let him loose without drawing his teeth and par¬ 
ing his nails. 

From the day on which an accommodation takes place 
between England and America, on any other terms than 
as independent States, I shall date the ruin of this coun¬ 
try. A politic minister will study to lull us into security 
by granting us the full extent of our petitions. The 
warm sunshine of influence would melt down the virtue 
which the violence of the storm rendered more firm and 
unyielding. In a state of tranquility, wealth, and lux¬ 
ury, our descendants would forget the arts of war and 
the noble activity and zeal which made their ancestors 
invincible. Every art of corruption would be employed 
to loosen the bond of union which renders our resist¬ 
ance formidable. When the spirit of liberty, which now 
animates our hearts and gives success to our arms, is 
extinct, our members will accelerate our ruin and ren- 


66 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


der us easier victims to tyranny. Ye abandoned min¬ 
ions of an infatuated ministry, if peradventure any 
should yet remain among* us, remember that a Warren 
and Montgomery are numbered among the dead. Con¬ 
template the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and 
then say, What should be the reward of such sacrifices ? 
Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the 
friendship, and plow, and sow, and reap, to glut the 
avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs 
of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face 
of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the 
tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of 
freedom—go from us in peace. We ask not your coun¬ 
sels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which 
feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and 
may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen! 

To unite the supremacy of Great Britain and the lib¬ 
erty of America is utterly impossible. So vast a conti¬ 
nent and of such a distance from the seat of empire will 
every day grow more unmanageable. The motion of 
so unwieldly a body can not be directed with any des¬ 
patch and uniformity without committing to the Par¬ 
liament of Great Britain powers inconsistent with our 
freedom. The authority and force which would be ab¬ 
solutely necessary for the preservation of the peace and 
good order of this continent would put all our valuable 
rights within the reach of that nation. 

As the administration of government requires firmer 
and more numerous supports in proportion to its extent, 
the burdens imposed on us would be excessive, and we 
should have the melancholy prospect of their increasing 
on our posterity. The scale of officers, from the rapa¬ 
cious and needy commissioner to the haughty governor, 


ON AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 


67 


and from the governor, with his hungry train, to per¬ 
haps a licentious and prodigal viceroy, must be upheld 
by you and your children. The fleets and armies which 
will be employed to silence your murmurs and com¬ 
plaints must be supported by the fruits of your industry. 

Britain is now, I will suppose, the seat of liberty and 
virtue, and its legislature consists of a body of able and 
independent men who govern with wisdom and justice. 
The time may come when all will be reversed; when its 
excellent constitution of government will be subverted; 
when, pressed by debts and taxes, it will be greedy 
to draw to itself an increase of revenue from every 
distant province in order to ease its own burdens; when 
the influence of the crown, strengthened by luxury and 
a universal profligacy of manners, will have trained 
every heart, broken down every fence of liberty and 
rendered us a nation of tame and contented vassals; 
when a general election will be nothing but a general 
auction of boroughs, and when the Parliament, the 
grand council of the nation, and once the faithful guar¬ 
dian of the State, and a terror to evil ministers, will be 
degenerated into a body of sycophants, dependent and 
venal, always ready to confirm any measures, and little 
more than a public court for registering royal edicts. 

Such, it is possible, may some time or other be the 
state of Great Britain. What will, at that period, be the 
duty of the Colonies? Will they be little bound to un¬ 
conditional submission? Must they always continue an 
appendage to our government and follow it implicitly 
through every change that can happen to it? Wretched 
condition, indeed, of millions of freemen as good as our¬ 
selves! Will you say that we now govern equitably, and 
that there is no danger of such revolution? Would to 


68 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


God that this were true! But you will not always say 
the same. Who shall judge whether we govern equit¬ 
ably or not? Can you give the Colonies any security 
that such a period will never come? No. The period, 
countrymen, is already come! The calamities were at 
our door. The rod of oppression was raised over us. 
We were roused from our slumbers, and may we never 
sink into repose until we can convey a clear and undis¬ 
puted inheritance to our posterity! This day we are 
called upon to give a glorious example of what the 
wisest and best of men were rejoiced to view only in 
speculation. This day presents the world with the most 
august spectacle that its annals ever unfolded—millions 
of freemen, deliberately and voluntarily forming them¬ 
selves into a society for their common defense and com¬ 
mon happiness. Immortal spirits of Hampden, Locke, 
and Sidney, will it not add to your benevolent joys to 
behold your posterity rising to the dignity of men, and 
evincing to the world the reality and expediency of your 
systems, and in the actual enjoyment of that equal lib¬ 
erty, which you were happy when on earth in delineat¬ 
ing and recommending to mankind? 

Other nations have received their laws from con¬ 
querors; some are indebted for a constitution to the 
suffering of their ancestors through revolving cen¬ 
turies. The people of this country, alone, have formally 
and deliberately chosen a government for themselves, 
and with open and uninfluenced consent bound them¬ 
selves into a social compact. Here no man proclaims 
his birth or wealth as a title to honorable distinction, 
or to sanctify ignorance and vice with the name of 
hereditary authority. He who has most zeal and ability 
to promote public felicity, let him be the servant of the 


ON AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 


69 


public. This is the only line of distinction drawn by 
nature. Leave the bird of night to the obscurity for 
which nature intended him, and expect only from the 
eagle to brush the clouds with his wings and look boldly 
in the face of the sun. 

If there is any man so base or so weak as to prefer a 
dependence on Great Britain to the dignity and happi¬ 
ness of living a member of a free and independent na¬ 
tion, let me tell him that necessity now demands what 
the generous principle of patriotism should have dic¬ 
tated. 

We have no other alternative than independence, or 
the most ignominious and galling servitude. The legions 
of our enemies thicken on our plains; desolation and 
death mark their bloody career, while the mangled 
corpses of our countrymen seem to cry out to us as a 
voice from heaven. 

Our Union is now complete; our Constitution com¬ 
posed, established, and approved. You are now the 
guardians of your own liberties. We may justly ad¬ 
dress you as the decemviri did the Romans, and say: 
“Nothing that we propose can pass into a law without 
your consent. Be yourselves, O Americans, the authors 
of those laws on which your happiness depends.” 

You have now in the field armies sufficient to repel 
the whole force of your enemies and their base and mer¬ 
cenary auxiliaries. The hearts of your soldiers beat 
high with the spirit of freedom; they are animated with 
the justice of their cause, and while they grasp their 
swords can look up to Heaven for assistance. Your ad¬ 
versaries are composed of wretches who laugh at the 
rights of humanity, who turn religion into derision, and 
would, for higher wages, direct their swords against 


70 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


their leaders or their country. Go on, then, in your 
generous enterprise with gratitude to Heaven for such 
success, and confidence of it in the future. For my own 
part I ask no greater blessing than to share with you 
the common danger and common glory. If I have a 
wish dearer to my soul than that my ashes may be min¬ 
gled with those of a Warren and Montgomery, it is that 
these American States may never cease to be free and 
independent. 


CONCORD HYMN* 

By Ralph Waldo Emerson 
Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, 
July 4, 1837 

By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 

Here once the embattled farmers stood 
And fired the shot heard round the world. 

The foe long since in silence slept; 

Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; 

And Time the ruined bridge has swept 

Down the dark stream which seaward sweeps. 

On this green bank, by this soft stream, 

We set to-day a votive stone; 

That memory may their deed redeem, 

When, like our sires, our sons are gone. 

Spirit, that made those heroes dare 
To die, and leave their children free, 

Bid Time and Nature gently spare 
The shaft we raise to them and thee. 

* Used by permission of, and by arrangement with, the Houghton 
Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers of Emerson’s poems. 



CONSTITUTION 


71 


INTRODUCING CONSTITUTIONAL 
DEVELOPMENT 

Bryce in his American Commonwealth recognizes the 
“remarkable novelty of the American System as the 
subjection of all ordinary authorities and organs of 
government to a supreme instrument expressing the 
will of the sovereign people.” Our Constitution has 
been the product of many years of political effort. 
Among the earliest of constitutions were the Funda¬ 
mental Orders of Connecticut, and the constitutions or 
“charters” of Rhode Island and Connecticut. The Char¬ 
ter of Rhode Island is printed in modern English to 
give an idea of the sort of written document that the 
“fathers” had for reference. The Ordinance of 1787 
is printed to show how great constitutional develop¬ 
ment was taking place during the close of the critical 
period of our history. The Constitution has grown tre¬ 
mendously since its ratification by the first eleven states. 
It has grown by amendment, by interpretation, and by 
usage. A few of the great political-literary gems are 
included and they illustrate our constitutional growth 

CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 
1663 

CHARLES THE SECOND, . . . : Whereas 

we have been informed, by the humble petition of our 
trusty and well beloved subject, John Clarke, on the 
behalf of Benjamin Arnold, William Brenton, William 


72 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Codington, Nicholas Easton, William Boulston, John 
Porter, John Smith, Samuel Wildbore, William Field, 
James Barker, Richard Tew, Thomas Harris, and 
William Dyre, and the rest of the purchasers and free 
inhabitants of our island, called “RHODE-ISLAND, 
and the rest of the colony of Providence Plantations, in 
the Narragansett Bay, in New England, in America, 
that they, pursuing, with peaceable and loyal minds, 
their sober, serious and religious intentions, of godly 
edifying themselves, and one another, in the holy Chris¬ 
tian faith and worship as they were persuaded; to¬ 
gether with the gaining over and conversation of the 
poor ignorant Indian natives, in those parts of America, 
to the sincere profession and obedience o’f the same 
faith and worship, did, not only by the consent and 
good encouragement of our royal progenitors, trans¬ 
port themselvevs out of this kingdom of England into 
America, but also, since their arrival there, after their 
first settlement amongst other our subjects in those 
parts, for the avoiding of discord, and those many 
evils which were likely to ensue upon some of those 
our subjects not being able to bear, in these remote 
parts, their different apprehensions in religious concern¬ 
ments, and in pursuance of the aforesaid ends, did once 
again leave their desireable stations and habitations, 
and with excessive labor and travel, hazard and charge, 
did transplant themselves into the midst of the Indian 
natives, who, as we are informed, are the most potent 
princes and people of all that country; where, by the 
good Providence of God, from whom the Plantations 
have taken their name, upon their labor and industry, 
they have not only been preserved to admiration, but 
have increased and prospered, and are seized and pos- 



CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 


73 


sessed, by purchase and consent of the said natives, to 
their full content, of such lands, islands, rivers, harbors 
and roads, as are very convenient, both for plantations 
and also for building of ships, supply of pipe-staves, 
and other merchandise; and which lies very commo¬ 
dious, in many respects, for commerce, and to accom¬ 
modate our southern plantations, and may much ad¬ 
vance the trade of this our realm, and greatly enlarge 
the territories thereof; they having, by near neighbor¬ 
hood to and friendly society with the great body of the 
Narragansett Indians, given them encouragement, of 
their own accord, to subject themselves, their people 
and lands, unto us, whereby, as is hoped, there may, in 
due time, by the blessing of God upon their endeavors, 
be laid a sure foundation of happiness to all America: 
AND WHEREAS, in their humble address, they have 
freely declared, that it is much on their hearts (if they 
may be permitted), to hold forth a lively experiment, 
that a most flourishing civil state may stand and best 
be maintained, and that among our English subjects, 
with a full liberty in religious concernments; and that 
true piety rightly grounded upon gospel principles, will 
give the best and greatest security to sovereignty, and 
will lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligations 
to true loyalty: NOW KNOW YOU, that we being 
willing to encourage the hopeful undertaking of our 
said loyal and loving subjects, and to secure them in 
the free exercise and enjoyment of all their civil and 
religious rights, appertaining to them, as our living 
subjects; and to preserve unto them that liberty, in the 
true Christian faith and worship of God, which they 
have sought with so much travail, and with peaceable 
minds, and loyal subjection to our royal progenitors 




74 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


and ourselves, to enjoy; and because some of the people 
and inhabitants of the same colony cannot, in their pri¬ 
vate opinions, conform to the public exercise of religion, 
according to the liturgy, forms and ceremonies of the 
Church of England, or take or subscribe the oaths and 
articles made and established in that behalf; and for 
that the same, by reason of the remote distances of 
those places, will (as we hope) be no breach of the 
unity and uniformity established in this nation: Have 
therefore thought fit, and do hereby publish, grant, or¬ 
dain and declare, That our royal will and pleasure is, 
that no person within the said colony, at any time here¬ 
after, shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, 
or called in question, for any differences in opinion in 
matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil 
peace of our said colony; but that all and every person 
and persons may, from time to time, and at all times 
hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their 
own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious 
concernments, throughout the tract of land hereafter 
mentioned; they behaving themselves peaceably and 
quietly, and not using this liberty to licentiousness and 
profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturb¬ 
ance of others; any law, statute, or clause, therein con¬ 
tained, or to be contained, usage or custom of this realm, 
to the contrary hereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. 
And that they may be in the better capacity to defend 
themselves, in their just rights and liberties against all 
the enemies of the Christian faith, and others, in all 
respects, we . . . further . . . declare, That 

they shall have and enjoy the benefit of our late act 
of indemnity and free pardon, as the rest of our sub¬ 
jects in other our dominions and territories have; and 


CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 


75 


to create and make them a body politic or corporate, 
with the powers and privileges hereinafter mentioned. 
And accordingly . . . WE ... do ordain, 

constitute and declare, That they, the said William 
Brenton, William Codington, Nicholas Easton, Benedict 
Arnold, William Boulston, John Porter, Samuel Gorton, 
John Smith, John Weeks, Roger Williams, Thomas 
Olney, Gregorie Dexter, John Cogeshall, Joseph Clarke, 
Randall Holden, John Greene, John Roome, William 
Dyre, Samuel Wildbore, Richard Tew, William Field, 

Thomas Harris, James Barker, - Rainsborrow, 

- Williams, and John Nickson, and all such 

others as now are, or hereafter shall be admitted and 
made free of the company and society of our colony of 
Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in 
New England, shall be, from time to time, and forever 
hereafter, a body corporate and politic, in fact and 
name of “THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF 
THE ENGLISH COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND 
AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, IN NEW 
ENGLAND, IN AMERICA. . . . AND FUR¬ 
THER, we ... do declare and appoint that, for 
the better ordering and managing of the affairs and 
business of the said Company, and their successors, 
there shall be one Governor, one Deputy-Governor and 
ten Assistants, to be from time to time, constituted, 
elected and chosen, out of the freemen of the said Com¬ 
pany, for the time being in such manner and form as 
is hereafter in these presents expressed; which said offi¬ 
cers shall apply themselves to take care for the best dis¬ 
posing and ordering of the general business and affairs 
of, and concerning the lands and hereditaments herein¬ 
after mentioned, to be granted, and the plantation 




76 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


thereof, and the government of the people there. And 
, . . we do . . . appoint the aforesaid Bene¬ 

dict Arnold to be the first and present Governor of the 
said Company, and the said William Brenton to be the 
Deputy-Governor, and the said William Boulston, John 
Porter, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, John Smith, 
John Greene, John Cogeshall, James Barker, William 
Field, and Joseph Clarke, to be the ten present Assist¬ 
ants of the said Company, to continue in the said sev¬ 
eral offices, respectively, until the first Wednesday 
which shall be in the month of May now next coming. 
AND FURTHER, we . . . do ordain and grant, 

that the Governor of the said Company, for the time 
being, or, in his absence, by occasion of sickness, or 
otherwise, by his leave and permission, the Deputy- 
Governor, for the time being, shall and may, from time 
to time, upon all occasions, give order for the assem¬ 
bling of the said Company, and calling them together, 
to consult and advise of the business and affairs of the 
said Company. AND that forever hereafter, twice in 
every year, that is to say, on every first Wednesday in 
the month of May, and on every last Wednesday in 
October, or oftener, in case it shall be requisite, the As¬ 
sistants, and such of the freemen of the Company, not 
exceeding six persons for Newport, four persons for 
each of the respective towns of Providence, Portsmouth 
and Warwick, and two persons for each other place, 
town or city, who shall be, from time to time, thereunto 
elected or deputed by the major part of the freemen of 
the respective towns or places for which they shall be 
so elected or deputed, shall have a general meeting, or 
Assembly then and there to consult, advise and de¬ 
termine, in and about the affairs and business of the 


CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 


77 


said Company and Plantations. AND Further, we do 
. . . give and grant unto the said Governor and 

Company of the English colony of RHODE ISLAND 
and PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS, in New Eng¬ 
land, in America, and their successors, that the Gov¬ 
ernor, or in his absence, or, by his permission, the 
Deputy-Governor of the said Company, for the time 
being, the Assistants, and such of the freemen of the 
said Company as shall be so as aforesaid elected or 
deputed, or so many of them as shall be present at such 
meeting or assembly, as aforesaid, shall be called the 
General Assembly; and that they, or the greatest part 
of them present, whereof the Governor or Deputy-Gov¬ 
ernor, and six of the Assistants, at least to be seven, 
shall have . . . full power (and) authority, from 

time to time, and at all times hereafter, to appoint, 
alter and change, such days, times and places of meet¬ 
ing and General Assembly, as they shall think fit; AND 
Further ... we do ... establish and or¬ 
dain, that yearly, once in the year, forever hereafter, 
namely, the aforesaid Wednesday in May, and at the 
town of Newport, or elsewhere, if urgent occasion do 
require, the Governor, Deputy-Governor and Assistants 
of the said Company, and other officers of the said Com¬ 
pany, or such of them as the General Assembly shall 
think fit, shall be, in the said General Court or As¬ 
sembly to be held from that day or time, newly chosen 
for the year ensuing, by such greater part of the said 
Company, for the time being, as shall be then and there 
present; . . . And we do likewise . . . give 

and grant unto the said Governor and Company, and 
their successors, by these presents, that for the more 
peaceable and orderly government of the said Planta- 


78 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


tions, it shall and may be lawful for the Governor, 
Deputy-Governor, Assistants, and all other officers and 
ministers of the said Company, in the administration 
of justice, and exercise of government, in the said 
Plantations, to use, exercise, and put in execution, such 
methods, rules, orders and directions not being con¬ 
trary or repugnant to the laws and statutes of this our 
realm, as have been heretofore given, used and accus¬ 
tomed, in such cases respectively, to be put in practice, 
until at the next or some other General Assembly, spec¬ 
ial provision shall be made and ordained in the cases 
aforesaid. AND we do further . . . grant . . . 
that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said 
Governor, or in his absence, the Deputy-Governor, and 
major part of the said Assistants, for the time being, 
at any time when the said General Assembly is not sit¬ 
ting, to nominate, appoint and constitute, such and so 
many commanders, governors, and military officers, as 
to them shall seem requisite, for the leading, conduct¬ 
ing and training up the inhabitants of the said Planta¬ 
tions in martial affairs, and for the defence and safe¬ 
guard of the said Plantations; . . . Nevertheless, 

our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby declare to 
the rest of our Colonies in New England, that it shall 
not be lawful for this our said Colony of Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations, in America, in New Eng¬ 
land, to invade the natives inhabiting within the bounds 
and limits of their said Colonies without the knowledge 
and consent of the said other Colonies. And it is hereby 
declared, that it shall not be lawful to or for the rest of 
the Colonies to invade or molest the native Indians, or 
any other inhabitants, inhabiting within the bounds 
and limits hereafter mentioned (they having subjected 


CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 


79 


themselves unto us, and being by us taken into our spec¬ 
ial protection), without the knowledge and consent of 
the Governor and Company of our Colony of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations. . . . And fur¬ 

ther also, we are gratiously pleased, and do hereby de¬ 
clare, that if any of the inhabitants of our said Colony 
do set upon the planting of vineyards (the soil and 
climate both seeming naturally to concur to the produc¬ 
tion of wines), or be industrious in the discovery of 
fishing banks, in or about the said Colony, we will, from 
time to time, give and allow all due and fitting encour¬ 
agement therein, as to others in cases of like nature. 
. . . And further, know ye, that we ... do 

give, grant and confirm, unto the said Governor and 
Company, and their successors, all that part of our 
dominions in New England, in America, containing the 
Nahantick and Nanhyganset Bay, and countries and 
parts adjacent, bounded on the west, or westerly, to 
the middle or channel of a river there, commonly called 
and known by the name of Pawcatuck, alias Pawcaw- 
tuck river, and so along the said river, as the greater 
or middle stream hereof reacheth, or lies up in the 
north country, northward, unto the head thereof, and 
from thence, by a straight line drawn due north, until 
it meets with the south line of the Massachusetts Col¬ 
ony; and on the north, or northerly, by the aforesaid 
south or southerly line of the Massachusetts Colony or 
Plantation, and extending towards the east, or east- 
wardly, three English miles to the east and north-east 
of the most eastern and north-eastern parts of the afore¬ 
said Narragansett Bay, as the said bay lieth or ex- 
tendeth itself from the ocean on the south, or southerly, 
unto the mouth of the river which runneth towards the 




80 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


town of Providence, and from thence along the east- 
wardly side or bank of the said river (higher called by 
the name of Seacunck river), up to the falls called 
Patuckett falls, being the most westwardly line of Plym¬ 
outh Colony, and so from the said falls, in a straight 
line, due north, until it meet with the aforesaid line of 
the Massachusetts Colony; and bounded on the south by 
the ocean; and, in particular, the lands belonging to the 
towns of Providence, Pawtuxet, Warwick, Misquam- 
macok, alias Pawcatuck, and the rest upon the main 
land in the track aforesaid, together with Rhode Island, 
Blocke Island, and all the rest of the islands and banks 
in the Narragansett Bay, and bordering upon the coast 
of the tract aforesaid (Fisher’s Island only excepted), 
. . . any grant, or clause in a late grant, to the Gov¬ 

ernor and Company of Connecticut Colony, in America, 
to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding; 
the aforesaid Pawcatuck river having been yielded, 
after such debate, for the fixed and certain bounds be¬ 
tween these our said Colonies, by the agents thereof; 
who have also agreed, that the said Pawcatuck river 
shall be also called alias Norrogansett or Narrogan- 
sett river ; and, to prevent future disputes, that other¬ 
wise might arise thereby, forever hereafter shall be 
construed, deemed and taken to be the Narragansett 
river in our late grant to Connecticutt Colony men¬ 
tioned as the easterly bounds of that Colony. AND 
further, our will and pleasure is, that in all matters of 
public controversy which may fall out between our 
Colony of Providence Plantations, and the rest of the 
Colonies in New England, it shall and may be lawful to 
and for the Governor and Company of the said Colony 
of Providence Plantations to make their appeals therein 


CHARTER OF RHODE ISLAND 


81 


to us, our heirs and successors, for redress in such 
cases, within this our realm of England; and that it 
shall be lawful to and for the inhabitants of the said 
Colony of Providence Plantations, without let or moles¬ 
tation, to pass and repass with freedom, into and 
through the rest of the English Colonies, upon their 
lawful and civil occasions, and to converse, and hold 
commerce and trade, with such of the inhabitants of 
our other English Colonies as shall be willing to admit 
them thereunto, they behaving themselves peaceably 
among them; any act, clause or sentence, in any of the 
said Colonies provided, or that shall be provided, to the 
contrary in anywise notwithstanding. . . . 


82 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ORDINANCE OF 1787 
July 13, 1787 

An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of 
the United States Northwest of the Ohio River 
Sec. 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Con¬ 
gress assembled, That the said territory, for the pur¬ 
poses of temporary government, be one district, subject, 
however, to be divided into two districts, as future cir¬ 
cumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it 
expedient. 

Sec. 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, 
That the estates both of resident and non-resident pro¬ 
prietors in the said territory, dying intestate, shall de¬ 
scend to, and be distributed among their children and 
the descendants of a deceased child in equal parts, the 
descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to take 
the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among 
them; and where there shall be no children or descend¬ 
ants, then in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal de¬ 
gree ; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased 
brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal 
parts among them, their deceased parent’s share; and 
there shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred 
of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the 
widow of the intestate, her third part of the real estate 
for life, and one-third part of the personal estate; and 
this law relative to descents and dower, shall remain in 
full force until altered by the legislature of the district. 


ORDINANCE OF 1787 


83 


And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as 
hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may 
be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed 
and sealed by him or her in whom the estate may be, 
(being of full age) and attested by three witnesses; and 
real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or 
bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the 
person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, 
and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be 
duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or 
the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded 
within one year after proper magistrates, courts, and 
registers shall, be appointed for that purpose; and per¬ 
sonal property may be transferred by delivery, saving, 
however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and 
other settlers of the Kaskaskies, Saint Vincents, and 
the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed 
themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs 
now in force among them, relative to the descent and 
conveyance of property. 

Sec. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, 
That there shall be appointed, from time to time, by 
Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue 
in force for the term of three years, unless sooner re¬ 
voked by Congress. 

Sec. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, 
by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall con¬ 
tinue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked; he 
shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate 
therein, in five hundred acres of land, while in the ex¬ 
ercise of his office. It shall be his duty to keep and pre¬ 
serve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and 
the public records of the district, and the proceedings 


84 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


of the governor in his executive department, and trans¬ 
mit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings every 
six months to the Secretary of Congress. There shall 
also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any 
two of whom to form a court, who shall have a com¬ 
mon-law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and 
have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred 
acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and 
their commissions shall continue in force during good 
behavior. 

Sec. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of 
them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws 
of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be 
necessary, and best suited to the circumstances of the 
district, and report them to Congress from time to time, 
which laws shall be in force in the district until the 
organization of the general assembly therein, unless 
disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the legis¬ 
lature shall have authority to alter them as they shall 
think fit. 

Sec. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be 
commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and com¬ 
mission all officers in the same below the rank of gen¬ 
eral officers; all general officers shall be appointed and 
commissioned by Congress. 

Sec. 7. Previous to the organization of the general 
and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates 
and other civil officers, in each county or township, as 
he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace 
and good order in the same. After the general assem¬ 
bly shall be organized the powers and duties of the 
magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated 
and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates 


ORDINANCE OF 1787 


85 


and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, 
shall, during the continuance of this temporary gov¬ 
ernment, be appointed by the governor. 

Sec. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, 
the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all 
parts of the district, and for the execution of process, 
criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper div¬ 
isions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, 
as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of 
the district in which the Indian titles shall have been 
extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, how¬ 
ever, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by 
the legislature. 

Sec. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free 
male inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giv¬ 
ing proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive 
authority, with time and place, to elect representatives 
from their counties or townships, to represent them in 
the general assembly: Provided, That for every five 
hundred free male inhabitants there shall be one rep¬ 
resentative, and so on, progressively, with the number 
of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representa¬ 
tion increase, until the number of representatives shall 
amount to twenty-five; after which the number and 
proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the 
legislature: Provided, That no person be eligible or 
qualified to act as a representative, unless he shall have 
been a citizen of one of the United States three years, 
and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have 
resided in the district three years; and, in either case, 
shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee-simple, two 
hundred acres of land within the same: Provided, also, 
That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, 


86 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


having been a citizen of one of the States, and being- 
resident in the district, or the like freehold and two 
years’ residence in the district, shall be necessary to 
qualify a man as an elector of a representative. 

Sec. 10. The representatives thus elected shall serve 
for the term of two years; and in case of the death of 
a representative, or removal from office, the governor 
shall issue a writ to the county or township, for which 
he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve 
for the residue of the term. 

Sec. 11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall 
consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house 
of representatives. The legislative council shall consist 
of five members, to continue in office five years, unless 
sooner removed by Congress; any three of whom to 
be a quorum; and the members of the council shall be 
nominated and appointed in the following manner, to- 
wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected the 
governor shall appoint a time and place for them to 
meet together, and when met they shall nominate ten 
persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of 
a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return 
their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall 
appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and 
whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by 
death or removal from office, the house of representa¬ 
tives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, 
for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, 
one of whom Congress shall appoint and commission 
for the residue of the term; and every five years, four 
months at least before the expiration of the time of ser¬ 
vice of the members of council, the said house shall 
nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and re- 


ORDINANCE OF 1787 


87 


turn their names to Congress, five of whom Congress 
shall appoint and commission to serve as members of 
the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the 
governor, legislative council, and house of representa¬ 
tives shall have authority to make laws in all cases for 
the good government of the district, not repugnant to 
the principles and articles in this ordinance established 
and declared. And all bills, having passed by a ma¬ 
jority in the house, and by a majority in the council, 
shall be referred to the governor for his assent; but 
no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force 
without his assent. The governor shall have power to 
convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly 
when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. 

Sec. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, 
secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall ap¬ 
point in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation 
of fidelity, and of office; the governor before the Presi¬ 
dent of Congress, and all other officers before the gov¬ 
ernor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the 
district, the council and house assembled, in one room, 
shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate 
to Congress who shall have a seat in Congress, with a 
right of debating, but not of voting, during this tem¬ 
porary government. 

Sec. 13. And for extending the fundamental prin¬ 
ciples of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis 
whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions, 
are erected; to fix and establish those principles as 
the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, 
which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said ter¬ 
ritory; to provide, also, for the establishment of States, 
and permanent government therein, and for their ad- 


88 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


mission to a share in the Federal councils on an equal 
footing with the original States, at as early periods as 
may be consistent with the general interest. 

Sec. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the 
authority aforesaid, that the following articles shall be 
considered as articles of compact, between the original 
States and the people and State in the said territory, 
and forever remain unalterable, unless by common con¬ 
sent, to-wit: 

ARTICLE I * 

No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and 
orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of 
his mode of worship, or religious sentiments, in the 
said territories. 

ARTICLE II. 

The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be 
entitled to the benefits of the writ of heabeas corpus, 
and of the trial by jury; of a proportionate represen¬ 
tation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial 
proceedings according to the course of common law. 
All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences, 
where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption 
great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or 
unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall 
be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judg¬ 
ment of his peers, or the law of the land, and should 
the public exigencies make it necessary, for the com¬ 
mon preservation, to take any person’s property, or to 

♦One of the finest addresses on religious liberty was delivered by 
an Iroquois Indian, “Red Jacket,” in 1805. A missionary by the name 
of Cram had spoken of his proposed missionary work among the In¬ 
dians before a council of chiefs. Red Jacket gave a thoughtful and 
reverent reply.—See page 93. 



ORDINANCE OF 1787 


89 


demand his particular services, full compensation shall 
be made for the same. And, in the just preservation 
of rights and property, it is understood and declared, 
that no law ought ever to be made or have force in the 
said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, in¬ 
terfere with or affect private contracts, or engagements, 
bona fide, and without fraud previously formed. 


ARTICLE III. 

>n, morality, and knowledge being necessary to 
good government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
and the means of education shall forever be encour¬ 
aged. 7 The utmost good faith shall always be observed 
towards the Indians; their lands and property shall 
never be taken from them without their consent; and 
in their property, rights, and liberty they never shall 
be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars 
authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice 
and humanity shall, from time to time, be made, for 
preventing wrongs being done to them, and for pre¬ 
serving peace and friendship with them. 


ARTICLE IV. 

The said territory, and the States which may be 
formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this 
confederacy of the United States of America, subject 
to the Articles of Confederation, and to such altera¬ 
tions therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to 
all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Con¬ 
gress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants 
and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay 
a part of the Federal debts, contracted, or to be con¬ 
tracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of gov- 


90 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


eminent to be apportioned on them by Congress, ac¬ 
cording to the same common rule and measure by 
which apportionments thereof shall be made on the 
other States; and the taxes for paying their propor¬ 
tion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direc¬ 
tion of the legislatures of the district, or districts, or 
new States, as in the original States, within the time 
agreed upon by the United States in Congress assem¬ 
bled. The legislatures of those districts, or new States, 
shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the 
soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor 
with any regulations Congress may find necessary for 
securing the title in such soil to the bona fide pur¬ 
chasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the prop¬ 
erty of the United States; and in no case shall non¬ 
resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. 
The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and 
Saint Lawrence, and the carrying places between the 
same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as 
well as the inhabitants of the said territory as to the 
citizens of the United States, and those of any other 
States that may be admittted into the confederacy, 
without any tax, impost, or duty therefor. 

ARTICLE V. 

There shall be formed in the said territory not less 
than three nor more than five States; and the boun¬ 
daries of the States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her 
act of cession and consent to the same, shall become 
fixed and established as follows, to-wit: The western 
State, in the said territory, shall be bounded by the 
Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash Rivers; a direct 
line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due 


ORDINANCE OF 1787 


91 


north, to the territorial line between the United States 
and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the 
Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle State 
shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash 
from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a 
direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the 
Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said 
territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded by 
the last-mentioned direct line drawn due north from the 
mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, 
and by the said territorial line. The eastern State shall 
be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line: Provided, 
however, And it is further understood and declared, 
that the boundaries of these three States shall be sub¬ 
ject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall here¬ 
after find it expedient, they shall have authority to 
form one or two States in that part of the said terri¬ 
tory which lies north of an east and west line drawn 
through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Mich¬ 
igan. And whenever any of the said States shall have 
sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such States 
shall be admitted, by its delegation, into the Congress 
of the United States, on an equal footing with the orig¬ 
inal States, in all respects whatever; and shall be at 
liberty to form a permanent constitution and State gov¬ 
ernment: Provided, The constitution and government, 
so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity 
to the principles contained in these articles, and, so far 
as it can be consistent with the general interest of the 
confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an 
earlier period, and when there may be a less number 
of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand. 


92 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ARTICLE VI. 

There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary ser¬ 
vitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the pun¬ 
ishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted: Provided always, That any person es¬ 
caping into the same, from whom labor or service is 
lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such 
fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the 
person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. 

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the 
resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the 
subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby, 
repealed, and declared null and void. 

Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, 
the 13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and 
of their sovereignty and independence the twelfth 


RED JACKET 


93 


RED JACKET ON THE RELIGION OF THE 
WHITE MAN AND THE RED 
1805 

Friend and Brother:—It was the will of the Great 
Spirit that we should meet together this day. He or¬ 
ders all things and has given us a fine day for our coun¬ 
cil. He has taken his garment from before the sun 
and caused it to shine with brightness upon us. Our 
eyes are opened that we see clearly; our ears are un¬ 
stopped that we have been able to hear distinctly the 
words you have spoken. For all these favors we thank 
the Great Spirit, and Him only. 

Brother, this council fire was kindled by you. It was 
at your request that we came together at this time. We 
have listened with attention to what you have said. 
You requested us to speak our minds freely. This 
gives us great joy; for we now consider that we stand 
upright before you and can speak what we think. All 
have heard your voice and all speak to you now as 
one man. Our minds are agreed. 

Brother, you say you want an answer to your talk 
before you leave this place. It is right you should have 
one, as you are a great distance from home and we do 
not wish to detain you. But first we will look back a 
little and tell you what our fathers have told us and 
what we have heard from the white people. 

Brother, listen to what we say. There was a time 
when our forefathers owned this great island. Their 


94 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


seats extended from the rising to the setting sun. The 
Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He 
had created the buffalo, the deer, and other animals for 
food. He had made the bear and the beaver. Their 
skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them 
over the country and taught us how to take them. He 
had caused the earth to produce corn for bread. All 
this He had done for His red children because He loved 
them. If we had some disputes about our hunting- 
ground they were generally settled without the shed¬ 
ding of much blood. 

But an evil day came upon us. Your forefathers 
crossed the great water and landed on this island. 
Their numbers were small. They found friends and 
not enemies. They told us they had fled from their 
own country for fear of wicked men and had come 
here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small 
seat. We took pity on them, granted their request, 
and they sat down among us. We gave them corn 
and meat; they gave us poison in return. 

The white people, brother, had now found our coun¬ 
try. Tidings were carried back and more came among 
us. Yet we did not fear them. We took them to be 
friends. They called us brothers. We believed them 
and gave them a larger seat. At length their numbers 
had greatly increased. They wanted more land; they 
wanted our country. Our eyes were opened and our 
minds became uneasy. Wars took place. Indians were 
hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people 
were destroyed. They also brought strong liquor 
among us. It was strong and powerful, and has slain 
thousands. 

Brother, our seats were once large and yours were 


RED JACKET 


95 


small. You have now become a great people, and we 
have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets. You 
have got our country, but are not satisfied; you want 
to force your religion upon us. 

Brother, continue to listen. You say that you are 
sent to instruct us how to worship the Great Spirit 
agreeably to His mind; and, if we do not take hold 
of the religion which you white people teach we shall 
be unhappy hereafter. You say that you are right and 
we are lost. How do we know this to be true? We 
understand that your religion is written in a Book. 
If it was intended for us, as well as you, why has not 
the Great Spirit given to us, and not only to us, but 
why did He not give to our forefathers the knowledge 
of that Book, with the means of understanding it 
rightly? We only know what you tell us about it. 
How shall we know when to believe, being so often 
deceived by the white people? 

Brother, we do not understand these things. We 
are told that your religion was given to your forefath¬ 
ers and has been handed down from father to son. We 
also have a religion which was given to our forefath¬ 
ers and has been handed down to us, their children. 
We worship in that way. It teaches us to be thankful 
for all the favors we receive, to love each other, and 
to be united. We never quarrel about religion. 

Brother, the Great Spirit has made us all, but He 
has made a great difference between his white and His 
re'd children. He has given us different complexions 
and different customs. To you He has given the arts. 
To these He has not opened our eyes. We know these 
things to be true. Since He has made so great a dif¬ 
ference between us in other things, why may we not 


96 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


conclude that He has given us a different religion ac¬ 
cording to our understanding? The Great Spirit does 
right. He knows what is best for His children; we 
are satisfied. 

Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion or 
take it from you. We only want to enjoy our own. 

Brother, you say you have not come to get our land 
or our money, but to enlighten our minds. I will now 
tell you that I have been at your meetings and saw 
you collect money from the meeting. I can not tell 
what this money was intended for, but suppose that it 
was for your minister; and if we should conform to 
your way of thinking perhaps you may want some 
from us. 

Brother, we are told that you have been preaching 
to the white people in this place. These people are 
our neighbors. We are acquainted with them. We 
will wait a little while and see what effect your preach¬ 
ing has upon them. If we find it does them good, 
makes them honest, and less disposed to cheat Indians, 
we will then consider again of what you have said. 

Brother, you have now heard our answer to your 
talk, and this is all we have to say at present. As we 
are going to part, we will come and take you by the 
hand, and hope the Great Spirit will protect you on 
your journey and return you safe to your friends. 


AMERICAN CONSTITUTION 97 


THE MEN WHO FRAMED OUR AMERICAN 
CONSTITUTION* 

The men of the world have marvelled at the great¬ 
ness of our Constitution, of its success under varying 
conditions as an instrument of government, and of the 
great federal system created by it. More than any 
group of men in all history, the “fathers who framed 
this instrument’’ were qualified to perform the signal 
service of the centuries. When the constitutional con¬ 
vention met in Philadelphia, May 25, 1787, it was evi¬ 
dent that none but the most capable men were present. 
Many occupations, many types of minds, varying groups 
of men were represented. An unusual number had 
been students of government for many years, while 
the majority had experienced years in public service as 
administrators, legislators, financiers, diplomats. A 
brief survey of these men will help explain, as nothing 
else can do, whence came this greatest of our “Sacred 
Writings.” 

Virginia sent the greatest man of the thirteen states ; 
already Washington was recognized as “first in war, 
first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” 
He was elected President of the Convention and ex¬ 
erted great influence on all the members. Governor Ed¬ 
mund Randolph headed the Virginia delegation and was 
a man of great influence. He had been the Attorney 
General of Virginia in 1776 and had twice been elected 


*1 have drawn upon Ridpath for this abstract. 



98 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


to Congress. Dr. James McClurg was a medical leader 
of the state. John Blair and George Wythe were Vir¬ 
ginia lawyers. George Mason was the author of the 
Non-intercourse Resolutions, he had assisted in the re¬ 
vision of the Codes of Virginia; Madison spoke of him 
as the “best debater he had known”; and Jefferson 
called him “the wisest of his generation.” Yet Mason 
opposed the Constitution. James Madison has been 
called “the father of the Constitution,” and it is certain 
he was the convention’s greatest student of govern¬ 
ment. He had studied the history of federal govern¬ 
ment; he had analyzed the constitutions of the Ly- 
cian and Achaian confederations, of the Amphictyonic 
League, of the Swiss Confederation, of the German 
Empire, and of the United Netherlands; he had made 
an abstract of Montesquieu’s “Spirit of Law.” 

Massachusetts sent Caleb Strong, who favored the 
small states in the great question of representation. 
Nathaniel Gorham had been President of Congress 
from 1785-1787. Rufus King, a moderate Federalist, 
was a convincing orator. Elbridge Gerry had been a 
member of Congress for five years, had signed the Dec¬ 
laration of Independence, but he refused to sign the 
Constitution because he thought it to be undemocratic. 

New Hampshire sent the youngest man of the con¬ 
vention, Nicholas Gilman, a lawyer of ability. John 
Langdon was a great Portsmouth merchant. He had 
financed the battle of Bennington. He had been speaker 
of the New Hampshire Assembly, judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas, a delegate in Congress, and Gov¬ 
ernor of his state. 

From Connecticut came Wm. Samuel Johnson, son 
of the first president of King’s College/ He was a 


CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 


99 


graduate of Yale and a fellow of the Royal Society. 
He had been a delegate in Congress, the agent of his 
colony in London, and a judge of the Supreme Court 
of his state. Roger Sherman had signed the American 
Association, the Declaration of Independence, and the 
Articles of Confederation. For twenty-three years he 
had been a judge of the highest court of his state. Oli¬ 
ver Ellsworth, an associate of Sherman on the bench, 
was the author of the first Judiciary Act. The great 
compromise regarding representation originated with 
either one or the other of these men. 

New York sent John Lansing, who had been three 
years a member of Congress. Robert Yates was a 
judge of the supreme court of New York. He had 
taken part in the formation of the first constitution of 
his state. Alexander Hamilton had been on Washing¬ 
ton’s stafif during a part of the Revolution; he was a 
young man of extraordinary ability. England regarded 
him as “the ablest man in America,” while Tallyrand 
said that “he had known all the noted men of Europe and 
had never known his equal.” He stood out squarely 
for a strong central government. Lansing and Yates 
left the convention early in July, for they thought the 
measures being proposed “to be destructive to the po¬ 
litical happiness of the citizens of the United States.” 

From Pennsylvania came a remarkable group of men. 
George Clymer, patriot; Thomas Fitzsimmons, wealthy 
merchant; Jared Ingersoll, member of the Philadelphia 
bar, and Thomas Mifflin, powerful political leader, were 
influential, but less distinguished than some. James 
Wilson was regarded as the ablest constitutional law¬ 
yer of the convention. He had been educated at St. 
Andrews, Glasgow, and at Edinburgh. He had signed 


100 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


the Declaration of Independence and had been six years 
in Congress. He favored a strong, central government. 
Robert Morris by business ability had arisen to a fore¬ 
most place among American merchants. He had been 
superintendent of finance during the Revolution; dur¬ 
ing the darkest hour of the Revolution he had support¬ 
ed the army by his personal influence and private credit. 
Gouverneur Morris is described as “Brilliant, witty, 
gay, courageous, society favorite, powerful orator and 
able writer.” He favored an aristocratic body for a 
Senate, and executive department in the form of an ex¬ 
ecutive council with its head selected for life, and re¬ 
movable only for just cause. The head of this group 
was the venerable Franklin. He had presented the 
Albany Plan of Union in 1754, had been an officeholder 
under the Crown, an agent of the colonies, the Presi¬ 
dent of his state, and a world diplomat. He spoke sel¬ 
dom, but what he said counted. On the last day of the 
convention he spoke the words quoted elsewhere in 
this book.* 

New Jersey was represented by William Livingston, 
who had long been governor of his state. William Pat¬ 
terson had been a member of Congress and of the 
Annapolis convention. Jonathan Dayton had served 
throughout the Revolution. David Brearly was Chief 
Justice of his state. 

From Delaware appeared Jacob Broom, who had 
been a delegate to the Annapolis convention. Gunning 
Bedford and Richard Bassett were well-known law¬ 
yers. George Read had signed the Declaration of In¬ 
dependence and had been chairman, of the convention 
that had written the constitution of his state. John 

* See page 130; also page 103. 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 101 


Dickinson had been a member of the Albany Congress 
of 1754. He had been a member of Congress and the 
governor of his state. 

Maryland sent Luther Martin, a noted lawyer. He 
opposed the Constitution, for he thought it violated true 
federal principles. Francis Mercer had been a noted 
cavalry officer during the Revolution and had been a 
member of Congress. Daniel Carroll and Daniel Jen¬ 
ifer had been members of Continental Congress, and 
James McHenry had been a soldier of the Revolution 
and was an enthusiast for the Constitution. 

North Carolina sent William R. Davie and Richard 
D. Spright, lawyers. Alexander Martin was a local 
politician. William Blount had been in Congress two 
years. Hugh Williamson, a physician, had served as 
director of the North Carolina militia during the Rev¬ 
olution, and was in Congress from 1782-1785. 

South Carolina was represented by Pierce Butler, an 
able lawyer. John Rutledge had been a member of the 
Stamp Act Congress, and had seen continuous public 
service since 1765. Charles Pinckney had been three 
years in Congress. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was 
“an Oxford man,” and had studied law in London. He 
served notice on the convention that they must not in¬ 
terfere with the institution of slavery; he was one of 
the ablest, and must be regarded as a great American. 

Georgia sent William Few, a “self-educated lawyer/’ 
who had represented his state six years in Congress. 
Abraham Baldwin was a graduate of Yale. He was 
one of the founders of the University of Georgia and 
was its first president. 

Such were the great men who wrote our immortal 
document. And because they were wise, the work that 



102 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


they did “lives after them.”* Let us Americans rev¬ 
erence our Constitution, and let us strive with every 
President to “preserve, protect and defend” it to the 
end of time. 

* See Lincoln’s Cooper Union Address, page 231, for further dis¬ 
cussion of the great men who wrote the Constitution. 



THE CONSTITUTION 


103 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S MOTION, MADE IN 
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 
JUNE 8, 1787* 


Mr. President, 

The small progress we have made, after four or five 
weeks’ close attendance and continual reasonings with 
each other, our different sentiments on almost every 
question, several of the last producing as many noes 
as ayes, is methinks, a melancholy proof of the imper¬ 
fection of the human understanding. We indeed seem 
to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have 
been running all about in search of it. We have gone 
back to ancient history for models of government, and 
examined the different forms of those republics, which, 
having been originally formed with the seeds of their 
own dissolution, now no longer exist; and we have 
viewed modern states all round Europe, but find none 
of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances. 

In this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, 
in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to 
distinguish it when presented to us, how has it hap¬ 
pened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of 
humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate 
our understanding? In the beginning of the contest 
with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had 

* This remarkable motion shows under what conditions of rever¬ 
ence the Constitution was created. 



104 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


daily prayers in this room for the Divine protection. 
Our prayers, sir, were heard,—and they were gra¬ 
ciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in 
the struggle, must have observed frequent instances of 
a superintending Providence in our favor. To that 
kind of Providence we owe this happy opportunity of 
consulting in peace on the means of establishing our 
future national felicity. And have we now forgotten 
that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer 
need its assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time; and 
the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of 
this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. 
And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without 
His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise with¬ 
out His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred 
Writings, that “except the Lord build the house, they 
labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and 
I also believe, that, without His concurring aid, we 
shall succeed in this political building no better than 
the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, 
partial, local interests, our projects will be confounded, 
and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a bye- 
word down to future ages. And, what is worse, man¬ 
kind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance,, 
despair of establishing government by human wisdom, 
and leave it to chance, war, and conquest. 

I therefore beg leave to move, 

That henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of 
Heaven and its blessing on our deliberations, be held 
in this assembly every morning before we proceed to 
business, and that one or more of the clergy of this 
city be requested to officiate in that service. 


THE CONSTITUTION 


105 


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
STATES 

WE, THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order 
to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure 
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings 
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain 
and establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall 
be vested in a Congress of the United States, which 
shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. 
Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be com¬ 
posed of Members chosen every second year by the peo¬ 
ple of the several States, and the Electors in each State 
shall have the qualifications requisite for Electors of 
the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 

No person shall be a Representative who shall not 
have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been 
seven years a Citizen of the United States, and who 
shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State 
in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States which may be included with¬ 
in this Union, according to their respective Numbers, 
which shall be determined by adding to the whole num- 


106 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ber of free persons, and excluding Indians not taxed, 
three-fifths of all other persons, including those bound 
to service for a term of years. The actual enumer¬ 
ation shall be made within three years after the first 
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and with¬ 
in every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner 
as they shall by Law direct. The number of Represen¬ 
tatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, 
but each State shall have at least one Representative; 
(and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of 
New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Mas¬ 
sachusetts eight, Rhode Island Providence Plantations 
one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, 
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Vir¬ 
ginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and 
Georgia three.)* 

When vacancies happen in the Representation from 
any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue 
Writs of Election to fill such vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their 
Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole 
power of impeachment. 

Section 3. (The Senate of the United States shall be 
composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by 
the Legislature thereof, for six years; and each Sen¬ 
ator shall have one vote.)* 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in conse¬ 
quence of the first election, they shall be divided as 
equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the 
Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the ex¬ 
piration of the second year, of the second class at the 


’’'Obsolete. See Amendment XVII. 



THE CONSTITUTION 


107 


expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at 
the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may 
be chosen every second year; (and if vacancies happen 
by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the 
Legislature of any State, the executive thereof may 
make temporary appointments until the next meeting 
of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.)* 

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have at¬ 
tained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years 
a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he 
shall be chosen. 

The Vice President of the United States shall be 
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless 
they be equally divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also 
a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice 
President, or when he shall exercise the Office of Pres¬ 
ident of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all im¬ 
peachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall 
be on oath of affirmation. When the President of the 
United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: 
And no person shall be convicted without the concur¬ 
rence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from office, and disqualifica¬ 
tion to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit 
under the United States: but the party convicted shall 
nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, 
judgment and punishment, according to law. 

Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding 


* Obsolete. 



108 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be pie- 
scribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but 
the Congress may at any time by law make or alter 
such regulations, (except as to the places of choosing 
Senators.)* 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday 
in December, unless they shall by law appoint a dif¬ 
ferent. day. 

Section 5. Each House shall be the judge of the elec¬ 
tions, returns and qualifications of its own members, 
and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do 
business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day 
to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance 
of absent members, in such manner, and under such 
penalties as each House may provide. 

Each House may determine the rules of its proceed¬ 
ings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, 
with the concurrence, of two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such 
parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and 
the yeas and nays of the members of either House on 
any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those 
present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall 
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
three days, nor to any other place than that in which 
the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall re¬ 
ceive a compensation for their services, to be ascer¬ 
tained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the 


* Obsolete. 



THE CONSTITUTION 


109 


United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, 
felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from ar¬ 
rest during their attendance at the session of their re¬ 
spective Houses, and in going to and returning from 
the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, 
they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time 
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office 
under the authority of the United States which shall 
have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall 
have been increased during such time; and no person 
holding any office under the United States, shall be a 
member of either House during his continuance in office. 
Section 7. All bills for raising Revenue shall originate 
in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may 
propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a 
law, be presented to the President of the United States; 
if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return 
it, with his objections to that House in which it shall 
have originated, who shall enter the objections at large 
on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after 
such reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall 
agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the 
objections, to the other blouse, by which it shall like¬ 
wise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of 
that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases 
the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and 
against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each 
House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) 


110 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall 
be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, 
in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concur¬ 
rence of the Senate and House of Representatives may 
be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) 
shall be presented to the President of the United States; 
and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved 
by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed 
by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representa¬ 
tives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed 
in the case of a bill. 

Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay 
and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay 
the debts and provide for the common defence and gen¬ 
eral welfare of the United States; but all duties, im¬ 
posts and excises shall be uniform throughout the 
United States; 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian tribes; 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and 
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies through¬ 
out the United States; 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of for¬ 
eign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 
securities and current coin of the United States; 

To establish post offices and post roads; 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by 
securing for limited times to authors and inventors the ex¬ 
clusive right to their respective writings and discoveries; 



THE CONSTITUTION 


111 


To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court; 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed 
on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations; 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
and make rules concerning captures on land and water; 

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of 
money to that use shall be for a longer term than 
two years; 

To provide and maintain a navy; 

To make rules for the government and regulation of 
the land and naval forces; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and re¬ 
pel invasions; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining 
the militia, and for governing such part of them as may 
be employed in the service of the United States, reserv¬ 
ing to the States respectively, the appointment of offi¬ 
cers, and the authority of training the militia accord¬ 
ing to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all cases what¬ 
soever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles 
square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the 
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Govern¬ 
ment of the United States, and to exercise like author¬ 
ity over all places purchased by the consent of the Leg¬ 
islature of the State in which the same shall be, for the 
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and 
other needful buildings;—And 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and 
all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Gov- 


112 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


eminent of the United States, or in any Department or 
Officer thereof. 

Section 9. (The migration or importation of such per¬ 
sons as any of the States now existing shall think 
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress 
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, 
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, 
not exceeding ten dollars for each person.)* 

The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall 
not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or 
invasion the public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex-post facto law shall be 
passed. 

No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be valid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration here¬ 
inbefore directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be valid on articles exported 
from any State. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of 
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over 
those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, 
one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in 
another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in 
consequence of appropriations made by law; and a reg¬ 
ular statement and account of the receipts and expen¬ 
ditures of all public money shall be published from 
time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
States; and no person holding any office of profit or 
trust under them, shall, without the consent of Con¬ 
gress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, 


* Obsolete. 



THE CONSTITUTION 


113 


of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or for¬ 
eign State. 

Section 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alli¬ 
ance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and 
reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any 
thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of 
debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex-post facto law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any 
title of nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
levy any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except 
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its in¬ 
spection laws; and the net produce of all duties and 
imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall 
be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and 
control of the Congress. 

No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay 
any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in 
time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact 
with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage 
in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent 
danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a 
President of the United States of America. He shall 
hold his office during the term of four years, and, to¬ 
gether with the Vice President, chosen for the same 
term, be elected, as follows: 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Leg¬ 
islature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal 
to the whole number of Senators and Representatives 


114 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but 
no Senator or Representative, or person holding an 
office of trust or profit under the United States, shall 
be appointed an elector. 

(The electors shall meet in their respective States, and 
vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least 
shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them¬ 
selves. And they shall make a list of all the persons 
voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which 
list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to 
the seat of the Government of the United States, di¬ 
rected to the President of the Senate. The President 
of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and 
the votes shall then be counted. The person having the 
greatest number of votes shall be President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed; and if there be more than one who have 
such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then 
the House of Representatives shall immediately choose 
by ballot one of them for President; and if no person 
have a majority, then from the five highest on the list 
the said House shall in like manner choose the Presi¬ 
dent. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be 
taken by States, the representation from each State 
having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall con¬ 
sist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
States, and a majority of all the States shall be neces¬ 
sary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the 
President, the person having the greatest number of 
votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. But 
if there should remain two or more who have equal 


THE CONSTITUTION 


115 


votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the 

Vice-President.)* 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing 
the electors, and the day on which they shall give their 
votes; which day shall be the same throughout the 
United States. 

No person except a natural born citizen, (or a citizen 
of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this 
constitution)! shall be eligible to the office of President; 
neither shall any person be eligible to that office who 
shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, 
and been fourteen years a resident within the United 
States. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, 
or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge 
the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall 
devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may 
by law provide for the case of removal, death, resig¬ 
nation or inability, both of the President and Vice-Pres¬ 
ident, declaring what officer shall then act as President, 
and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disabil¬ 
ity be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his 
services, a compensation, which shall neither be in¬ 
creased nor diminished during the period for which he 
shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within 
that period any other emolument from the United 
States, or any of them. 

Before he enters on the execution of his office, he 
shall take the following oath or affirmation: “I do sol¬ 
emnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 


* Obsolete. See Amendment XII. 
t Obsolete. 



116 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


the Office of President of the United States, and will 
to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend 
the Constitution of the United States.” 

Section 2. The President shall be commander-in-chief 
of the army and navy of the United States, and of the 
militia of the several States, when called into the actual 
service of the United States; he may require the opin¬ 
ion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the 
executive departments, upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power 
to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
United States, except in case of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two- 
thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall 
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public 
ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, 
and all other officers of the United States, whose ap¬ 
pointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 
which shall be established by law; but the Congress 
may by law vest the appointment of such inferior offi¬ 
cers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in 
the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacan¬ 
cies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, 
by granting commissions which shall expire at the end 
of their next session. 

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Con¬ 
gress information of the State of the Union, and rec¬ 
ommend to their consideration such measures as he 
shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extra¬ 
ordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of 


THE CONSTITUTION 


117 


them, and in case of disagreement between them, with 
respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall 
receive Ambassadors and other public ministers; he 
shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and 
shall commission all the officers of the United States. 
Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil 
officers of the United States shall be removed from 
office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 
ARTICLE III. 

Section 1. —The judicial power of the United States 

shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such infe¬ 
rior Courts as the Congress may from time to time 
ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme 
and Inferior Courts, shall hold their offices during good 
behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office. 

Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, 
in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the 
laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affect¬ 
ing Ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; 
to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to 
controversies to which the United States shall be a 
party; to controversies between two or more States; 
(between a State and citizens of another State) ;* be¬ 
tween citizens of different states; between citizens of 
the same State claiming lands under grants of different 
States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and 
foreign States, citizens or subjects. 


* Obsolete. See Amendment XI. 



118 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public min¬ 
isters and consuls, and those in which a State shall be 
a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdic¬ 
tion. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Su¬ 
preme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as 
to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such 
regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in 
the State where the said crimes shall have been com¬ 
mitted; but when not committed within any State, the 
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress 
may by law have directed. 

Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall 
consist only in levying war against them, or in adher¬ 
ing to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
on confession in open court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the pun¬ 
ishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall 
work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during 
the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceed¬ 
ings of every other State. And the Congress may by 
general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, 
records and proceedings shall be proved, and the ef¬ 
fect thereof. 

Section 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled 
to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the sev¬ 
eral States. 


CONSTITUTION 


119 


A person charged in any State with treason, felony, 
or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found 
in another State, shall on demand of the executive au¬ 
thority of the State from which he fled, be delivered 
up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of 
the crime. 

(No person held to service or labor in one State, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in con¬ 
sequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis¬ 
charged from such service or labor, but shall be de¬ 
livered up on claim of the party to whom such service 
or labor may be due.)* 

Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Con¬ 
gress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed 
or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; 
nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more 
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the 
Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the 
Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and 
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the 
territory or other property belonging to the United 
States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so 
construed as to prejudice any claim of the United 
States, or of any particular State. 

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a Republican form of Government, 
and shall protect each of them against invasion; and 
on application of the Legislature, or of the executive 
(when the Legislature cannot be convened) against 
domestic violence. 


* Obsolete. 



120 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to 
this Constitution, or, on the application of the Legis¬ 
latures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call 
a convention for proposing amendments, which, in 
either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, 
as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Leg¬ 
islatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by 
conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the 
other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Con¬ 
gress; provided that no amendment which may be 
made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred 
and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 
clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that 
no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its 
equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, 
before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as 
valid against the United States under this Constitution, 
as under the confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the au¬ 
thority of the United States, shall be the supreme law 
of the land; and the judges in every State shall be 
bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws 
of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, 
and the members of the several State Legislatures, and 
all executive and judicial officers, both of the United 


THE CONSTITUTION 


121 


States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath 
or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no 
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification 
to any office or public trust under the United States. 
ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States, 
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Consti¬ 
tution between the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the 
States present the seventeenth day of September in the 
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-seven and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the twelfth. 

IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed 
our names. 

(Signed by) GO. WASHINGTON, 

President and Deputy from 
Virginia. 

(and by thirty-nine delegates). 


122 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


IN CONVENTION,* Monday, September 17th, 1787 

Present 
The States of 

New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Mr. 
Hamilton from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina and Georgia. 

RESOLVED—That the preceding Constitution be 
laid before the United States in Congress assembled, 
and that it is the opinion of this convention, that it 
should afterwards be submitted to a convention of dele¬ 
gates, chosen in each State by the people thereof, under 
the recommendation of its Legislature, for their assent 
and ratification; and that each convention assenting to 
and ratifying the same, should give notice thereof to 
the United States in Congress assembled. 

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this convention, 
that as soon as the conventions of nine States shall have 
ratified this Constitution, the United States in Congress' 
assembled should fix a day on which electors should be 
appointed by the States which shall have ratified the 
same, and a day on which the electors should assemble 
to vote for the President, and the time and place for 
commencing proceedings under this Constitution. That 
after such publication the electors should be appointed, 
and the Senators and Representatives elected; That the 

* Read P'ranklin’s speech delivered the last day of the convention, 
page 130l 



THE CONSTITUTION 


123 


electors should meet on the day fixed for the election of 
the President, and should transmit their votes certified, 
signed and directed, as the Constitution requires, to the 
Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled, 
that the Senators and Representatives should convene 
at the time and place assigned; that the Senators should 
appoint a President of the Senate, for the sole purpose 
of receiving, opening and counting the votes for Presi¬ 
dent; and, that after he shall be chosen, the Congress 
together with the President, should, without delay, pro¬ 
ceed to execute this Constitution. 

By the unanimous order of the convention. 

GO. WASHINGTON, President. 

W. JACKSON, Secretary. 

Articles* in addition to, and amendments of, the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States of America, proposed by 
Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several 
States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original con¬ 
stitution. 

ARTICLE I. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establish¬ 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there¬ 
of ; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; 
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to 
petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. 

A well regulated militia being necessary to the secur¬ 
ity of a free State, the right of the people to keep and 
bear arms shall not be infringed. 


* The first ten amendments constitute the American Bill of Rights. 



124 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 
house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of 
war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their per¬ 
sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable 
search and seizures, shall not be violated, and no war¬ 
rants shall be issued, but upon probable cause, sup¬ 
ported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describ¬ 
ing the place to be searched, and the persons or things 
to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or 
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or 
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in 
the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in 
actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall 
any person be subject for the same offence to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled 
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, 
nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due 
process of law; nor shall private property be taken for 
public use, without just compensation. 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy 
the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial 
jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall 
have been committed,which district shall have been pre¬ 
viously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted 


THE CONSTITUTION 


125 


with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to 
have the assistance of counsel for his defense. 

ARTICLE VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in contro¬ 
versy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by 
jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury 
shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the 
United States than according to the rules of the com¬ 
mon law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments in¬ 
flicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights 
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others re¬ 
tained by the people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by 
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are 
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. 

ARTICLE XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be 
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, com¬ 
menced or prosecuted against one of the United States 
by citizens of another State or by citizens or subjects of 
any foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States and 




126 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of 
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same 
State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots 
the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots 
the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall 
make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, 
and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and 
of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall 
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the 
Government of the United States, directed to the Presi¬ 
dent of the Senate; The President of the Senate shall, 
in presence of the Senate and House of Representa¬ 
tives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then 
be counted; The person having the greatest number of 
votes for President shall be the President, if such num¬ 
ber be a majority of the whole number of electors ap¬ 
pointed; and if no person have such majority, then from 
the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding 
three on the list of those voted for as President, the 
House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by 
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the 
votes shall be taken by States, the representation from 
each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose 
shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds 
of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be 
necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representa¬ 
tives shall not choose a President whenever the right of 
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of 
March next following, then the Vice-President shall 
act as President, as in the case of the death or other 
constitutional disability of the President. The persons 
having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President 
shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a ma- 


THE CONSTITUTION 


127 


jority of the whole number of electors appointed, and 
if no person have a majority, then from the two highest 
members on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice- 
President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of 
two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a ma¬ 
jority of the whole number shall be necessary to a 
choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 
office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the 
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 
are citizens of the United States, and of the State 
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce 
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immuni¬ 
ties of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State 
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law; nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among 
the several States according to their respective num¬ 
bers, counting the whole number of persons in each 
State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right 
to vote at any election for the choice of electors for 


128 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


President and Vice-President of the United States, Rep¬ 
resentatives in Congress, the executive and judicial offi¬ 
cers of a State, or the members of the Legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such 
State being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the 
United States, or in any way abridged, except for par¬ 
ticipation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of rep¬ 
resentation therein shall be reduced in the proportion 
which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the 
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age 
in each State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representa¬ 
tive in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, or hold any office, civil or military, under the 
United States, or under any State, who, having pre¬ 
viously taken an oath, as a member of any State legis¬ 
lature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, 
to support the Constitution of the United States, shall 
have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the 
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. 
But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each 
House, remove such disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the 
United States, authorized by law, including debts in¬ 
curred for payment of pensions and bounties for serv¬ 
ices in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not 
be questioned. But neither the United States nor any 
State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation in¬ 
curred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the 
United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipa¬ 
tion of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and 
claims shall be held illegal and void. 


THE CONSTITUTION 


129 


Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, 
by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XV. 

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States 
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United 
States or by any State on account of race, color, or pre¬ 
vious condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XVI. 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect 
taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, with¬ 
out apportionment among the several States, and with¬ 
out regard to any census or enumeration. 

ARTICLE XVII. 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of 
two Senators from each State, elected by the people 
thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one 
vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifi¬ 
cations requisite for electors of the most numerous 
branch of the State Legislature. 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any 
State in the Senate, the executive authority of such 
State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; 
Provided, That the Legislature of any State may em¬ 
power the executive thereof to make temporary ap¬ 
pointments until the people fill the vacancies by election 
as the Legislature may direct. 

This amendment shall not be so construed as to effect 
the election or term of any Senator chosen before it be¬ 
comes valid as part of the Constitution. 


130 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ARTICLE XVIII. 

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this 
article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of in¬ 
toxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, 
or the exportation thereof from the United States and 
all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof, for bev¬ 
erage purposes is hereby prohibited. 

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall 
have concurrent power to enforce this article by appro¬ 
priate legislation. 

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it 
shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Con¬ 
stitution by the Legislatures of the several States, as 
provided in the Constitution, within seven years from 
the date of the submission hereof to the States by the 
Congress. 

ARTICLE XIX. 

The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or 
by any State on account of sex. 

Congress shall have power to enforce the article by 
appropriate legislation. 

FRANKLIN 

On the Federal Constitution* 

1787 

I confess that I do not entirely approve of this Con¬ 
stitution at present; but, sir, I am not sure I shall never 
approve of it, for, having lived long, I have experienced 
many instances of being obliged, by better information 
or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on im- 


Spoken on the floor of the convention just before adoption. 



THE CONSTITUTION 


131 


portant subjects, which I once thought right, but found 
to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the older I grow, 
the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment of others. 
Most men, indeed, as well as most sects in religion, 
think themselves in possession of all truth, and that 
wherever others differ from them, it is so far error. 
Steele, a Protestant, in a dedication, tells the pope that 
the only difference between our two churches in their 
common opinions of the certainty of their doctrine is, 
the Roman Church is infallible, and the Church of Eng¬ 
land is never in the wrong. But, tho many private 
persons think almost as highly of their own infalli¬ 
bility as of their sect, few express it so naturally as 
a certain French lady, who, in a little dispute with her 
sister, said: “But I meet with nobody but myself that is 
always in the right.” 

In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this Constitution 
with all its faults—if they are such—because I think a 
general government necessary for us, and there is no 
form of government but what may be a blessing to the 
people if well administered; and I believe, further, that 
this is likely to be well administered for a course of 
years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms 
have done before it, when the people shall become so 
corrupted as to need despotic government, being in¬ 
capable of any other. I doubt, too, whether any other 
convention we can obtain may be able to make a better 
Constitution; for, when you assemble a number of men, 
to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you in¬ 
evitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, 
their passions, their errors of opinion, their local inter¬ 
ests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly 
can a perfect production be expected? 


132 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system ap¬ 
proaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think 
it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with con¬ 
fidence to hear that our counsels are confounded like 
those of the builders of Babel, and that our States are 
on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for 
the purpose of cutting one another’s throats. Thus I 
consent, sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no 
better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. 
The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the 
public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them 
abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here 
they shall die. If every one of us, in returning to our 
constituents, were to report the objections he has had 
to it, and endeavor to gain partizans in support of them, 
we might prevent its being generally received, and 
thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advan¬ 
tages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign 
nations, as well as among ourselves, from our real or 
apparent unanimity. Much of the strength and effi¬ 
ciency of any government, in procuring and securing 
happiness to the people, depends on opinion, on the gen¬ 
eral opinion of the goodness of that government, as well 
as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. I hope, 
therefore, for our own sakes, as a part of the people, 
and for the sake of our posterity, that we shall act 
heartily and unanimously in recommending this Con¬ 
stitution wherever our influence may extend, and turn 
our future thoughts and endeavors to the means of hav¬ 
ing it well administered. 

On the whole, sir, I can not help expressing a wish 
that every member of the convention who may still have 
objections to it, would, with me, on this occasion, doubt 


THE CONSTITUTION 


133 


a little of his own infallibility, and, to make manifest 
our unanimity, put his name to this instrument. 

HAMILTON 

On the Adoption of the Federal Constitution* 
June 24, 1788 

I am persuaded, Mr. Chairman, that I in my turn 
shall be indulged in addressing the committee. We all 
in our equal sincerity profess to be anxious for the 
establishment of a republican government on a safe and 
solid basis. It is the object of the wishes of every hon¬ 
est man in the United States, and I presume that I 
shall not be disbelieved when I declare that it is an ob¬ 
ject of all others the nearest and most dear to my 
heart. The means of accomplishing this great purpose 
become the most important study which can interest 
mankind. It is our duty to examine all those means 
with peculiar attention and to choose the best and most 
effectual. It is our duty to draw from nature, from rea¬ 
son, from examples, the best principles of policy, and to 
pursue and apply them in the formation of our govern¬ 
ment. We should contemplate and compare the systems 
which in this examination come under our view; dis¬ 
tinguish with a careful eye the defects and excellencies 
of each, and, discarding the former, incorporate the 
latter, so far as circumstances will admit, into our Con¬ 
stitution. If we pursue a different course'and neglect 
this duty we shall probably disappoint the expectations 
of our country and of the world. 

In the commencement of a revolution which received 
its birth from the usurpations of tyranny, nothing was 

* Speech in the New York ratification convention. 



134 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


more natural than that the public mind should be influ¬ 
enced by an extreme spirit of jealousy. To resist these 
encroachments and to nourish this spirit was the great 
object of all our public and private institutions. The 
zeal for liberty became predominant and excessive. In 
forming our Confederation this passion alone seemed to 
actuate us, and we appear to have had no other view 
than to secure ourselves from despotism. The object 
certainly was a valuable one, and deserved our utmost 
attention. But, sir, there is another object equally im¬ 
portant and which our enthusiasm rendered us little 
capable of regarding; I mean a principle of strength 
and stability in the organization of our Government, 
and vigor in its operations. This purpose can never be 
accomplished but by the establishment of some select 
body formed peculiarly upon this principle. There are 
few positions more demonstrative than that there should 
be in every republic some permanent body to correct the 
prejudices, check the intemperate passions, and regulate 
the fluctuations of a popular assembly. It is evident 
that a body instituted for these purposes must be so 
formed as to exclude as much as possible from its own 
character these infirmities and that mutability which it 
is designed to remedy. It is therefore necessary that it 
should be small, that it should hold its authority during 
a considerable period, and that it should have such an 
independence in the exercise of its powers as will divest 
it as much as possible of local prejudices. It should be 
sc^formed as to be the center of political knowledge, to 
pursue always a steady line of conduct, and to reduce 
every irregular propensity to system. Without this 
establishment we may make experiments without end, 
but shall never have an efficient government. 


HAMILTON 


135 


It is an unquestionable truth that the body of the peo¬ 
ple in every country desire sincerely its prosperity; but 
it is equally unquestionable that they do not possess the 
discernment and stability necessary for systematic gov¬ 
ernment. To deny that they are frequently led into the 
grossest errors by misinformation and passion would be 
a flattery which their own good sense must despise. 
That branch of administration especially which involves 
our political relations with foreign States, a community 
will ever be incompetent to. These truths are not often 
held up in public assemblies, but they can not be un¬ 
known to any who hear me. From these principles it 
follows that there ought to be two distinct bodies in 
our government: one, which shall be immediately con¬ 
stituted by and peculiarly represent the people and pos¬ 
sess all the popular features; another, formed upon the 
principle and for the purposes before explained. Such 
considerations as these induced the Convention who 
formed your State Constitution to institute a Senate 
upon the present plan. The history of ancient and mod¬ 
ern republics had taught them that many of the evils 
which these republics had suffered arose from the want 
of a certain balance and mutual control indispensable 
to a wise administration. They were convinced that 
popular assemblies are frequently misguided by igno¬ 
rance, by sudden impulses, and the intrigues of ambi¬ 
tious men, and that some firm barrier against these 
operations was necessary; they therefore instituted 
your Senate, and the benefits we have experienced have 
fully justified their conceptions. 

Gentlemen in their reasoning have placed the inter¬ 
ests of the several States and those of the United States 
in contrast; this is not a fair view of the subject: they 


136 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


must necessarily be involved in each other. What we 
apprehend is that some sinister prejudice or some pre¬ 
vailing passion may assume the form of a genuine in¬ 
terest. The influence of these is as powerful as the 
most permanent conviction of the public good, and 
against this influence we ought to provide. The local 
interests of a State ought in every case to give way 
to the interests of the Union; for when a sacrifice of 
one or the other is necessary, the former becomes only 
an apparent, partial interest, and should yield on the 
principle that the small good ought never to oppose the 
great one. When you assemble from your several coun¬ 
ties in the Legislature, were every member to be guided 
only by the apparent interests of his county, govern¬ 
ment would be impracticable. There must be a per¬ 
petual accommodation and sacrifice of local advantages 
to general expediency; but the spirit of a mere pop¬ 
ular assembly would rarely be actuated by this impor¬ 
tant principle. It is therefore absolutely necessary that 
the Senate should be so formed as to be unbiased by 
false conceptions of the real interests of undue attach¬ 
ment to the apparent good of their several States. 

Gentlemen indulge too many unreasonable apprehen¬ 
sions of danger to the State government; they seem to 
suppose that the moment you put men into a national 
council, they become corrupt and tyrannical and lose 
all their afifection for their fellow citizens. But can we 
imagine that the Senators will ever be so insensible of 
their own advantage as to sacrifice the genuine interest 
of their constituents? The State governments are es¬ 
sentially necessary to the form and spirit of the general 
system. As long, therefore, as Congress has a full 
conviction of this necessity, they must even upon prin- 


HAMILTON 


137 


ciples purely national, have as firm an attachment to 
the one as to the other. This conviction can never leave 
them, unless they become madmen. While the Con¬ 
stitution continues to be read and its principle known 
the States must by every rational man be considered 
as essential, component parts of the Union; and there¬ 
fore the idea of sacrificing the former to the latter is 
wholly inadmissible. 

The objectors do not advert to the natural strength 
and resources of State governments, which will ever 
give them an important superiority over the general 
government. If we compare the nature of their differ¬ 
ent powers, or the means of popular influence which 
each possesses, we shall find the advantage entirely on 
the sides of the State. This consideration, important 
as it is, seems to have been little attended to. The ag¬ 
gregate number of representatives throughout the States 
may be two thousand. Their personal influence will, 
therefore, be proportionately more extensive than that 
of one or two hundred men in Congress. The State 
establishments of civil and military officers of every de¬ 
scription, infinitely surpassing in number any possible 
correspondent establishments in the general govern¬ 
ment, will create such an extent and complication of 
attachments as will ever secure the predilection and 
support of the people. Whenever, therefore, Congress 
shall meditate any infringement of the State Constitu¬ 
tions, the great body of the people will naturally take 
part with their domestic representatives. Can the 
general government withstand such a united opposi¬ 
tion? Will the people suffer themselves to be stripped 
of their privileges? Will they suffer their legislatures 


138 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


to be reduced to a shadow and a name? The idea is 
shocking to common sense. 

From the circumstances already explained and many 
others which might be mentioned, results a complicated, 
irresistible check, which must ever support the exist¬ 
ence and importance of the State governments. The 
danger, if any exists, flows from an opposite source. 
The probable evil is that the general government will 
be too dependent on the State Legislatures, too much 
governed by their prejudices, and too obsequious to 
their humors; that the States, with every power in 
their hands, will make encroachments on the national 
authority till the Union is weakened and dissolved. 

Every member must have been struck with an obser¬ 
vation of a gentleman from Albany. Do what you will, 
says he, local prejudices and opinions will go into the 
government. What! shall we then form a Constitution 
to cherish and strengthen these prejudices? Shall we 
confirm the distemper instead of remedying it? It is 
undeniable that there must be a control somewhere. 
Either the general interest is to control the particular 
interests, or the contrary. If the former, then cer¬ 
tainly the government ought to be so framed as to ren¬ 
der the power of control efficient to all intents and pur¬ 
poses; if the latter, a striking absurdity follows; the 
controlling powers must be as numerous as the varying 
interests, and the operations of the government must 
therefore cease; for the moment you accommodate 
these different interests, which is the only way to see 
the government in motion, you establish a controlling 
power. Thus, whatever constitutional provisions are 
made to the contrary, every government will be at last 
driven to the necessity of subjecting the partial to the 


HAMILTON 


139 


universal interest. The gentlemen ought always in 
their reasoning to distinguish between the real, genu¬ 
ine good of a State and the opinions and prejudices 
which may prevail respecting it; the latter may be op¬ 
posed to the general good, and consequently ought to 
be sacrificed; the former is so involved in it that it 
never can be sacrificed. 

There are certain social principles in human nature 
from which we may draw the most solid conclusions 
with respect to the conduct of individuals and of com¬ 
munities. We love our families more than our neigh¬ 
bors; we love our neighbors more than our country¬ 
men in general. The human affections, like the solar 
heat, lose their intensity as they depart from the center 
and become languid in proportion to the expansion of 
the circle on which they act. On these principles, the 
attachment of the individual will be first and for ever 
secured by the State governments; they will be a mu¬ 
tual protection and support. Another source of influ¬ 
ence, which has already been pointed out, is the various 
official connections in the States. Gentlemen endeavor 
to evade the force of this by saying that these offices 
will be insignificant. This is by no means true. The 
State officers will ever be important, because they are 
necessary and useful. Their powers are such as are 
extremely interesting to the people; such as affect their 
property, their liberty, and life. What is more impor¬ 
tant than the administration of justice and the execu¬ 
tion of the civil and criminal laws ? Can the State gov¬ 
ernments become insignificant while they have the power 
of raising money independently and without control? 
If they are really useful, if they are calculated to pro¬ 
mote the essential interests of the people, they must 




140 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

have their confidence and support. I he States can 
never lose their powers till the whole people of America 
are robbed of their liberties. These must go together; 
they must support each other, or meet one common 
fate. On the gentleman’s principle we may safely trust 
the State governments, tho we have no means of re¬ 
sisting them; but we can not confide in the national 
government, tho we have an effectual constitutional 
guard against every encroachment. This is the essence 
of their argument, and it is false and fallacious be¬ 
yond conception. 

With regard to the jurisdiction of the two govern¬ 
ments I shall certainly admit that the Constitution 
ought to be so formed as not to prevent the States from 
providing for their own existence; and I maintain that 
it is so formed, and that their power of providing for 
themselves is sufficiently established. This is conceded 
by one gentleman, and in the next breath the conces¬ 
sion is retracted. He says Congress has but one ex¬ 
clusive right in taxation—that of duties on imports; 
certainly, then, their other powers are only concurrent. 
But to take off the force of this obvious conclusion, he 
immediately says that the laws of the United States are 
supreme and that where there is one supreme there can 
not be a concurrent authority; and further, that where 
the laws of the Union are supreme those of the States 
must subordinate, because there can not be two su¬ 
preme. This is curious sophistry. That two supreme 
powers can not act together is false. They are incon¬ 
sistent only when they are aimed at each other or at 
one indivisible object. The laws of the United States 
are supreme as to all their proper constitutional objects; 
the laws of the States are supreme in the same way. 


HAMILTON 


141 


These supreme laws may act on different objects with¬ 
out clashing, or they may operate on different parts of 
the same common object with perfect harmony. Sup¬ 
pose both governments should lay a tax of a penny on 
a certain article; has not each an independent and un¬ 
controllable power to collect its own tax? The mean¬ 
ing of the maxim, there can not be two supremes, is 
simply this—two powers can not be supreme over each 
other. This meaning is entirely perverted by the gen¬ 
tlemen. But, it is said, disputes between collectors are 
to be referred to the Federal Courts. This is again 
wandering in the field of conjecture. But suppose the 
fact is certain, is it not to be presumed that they will 
express the true meaning of the Constitution and the 
laws? Will they not be bound to consider the concur¬ 
rent jurisdiction; to declare that both taxes shall have 
equal operation; that both the powers, in that respect, 
are sovereign and co-extensive? If they transgress 
their duty we are to hope that they will be punished. 
Sir, we can reason from probabilities alone. When we 
leave common sense and give ourselves up to conjec¬ 
ture, there can be no certainty, no security in our rea¬ 
sonings. 


142 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


FROM ANDREW JACKSON'S FAREWELL 
ADDRESS 

March 4, 1837 

“We have now lived almost fifty years under the 
Constitution framed by the sages and patriots of the 
Revolution. The conflicts in which the nations of Eu¬ 
rope were engaged during a great part of this period, 
the spirit in which they waged war against each other, 
and our intimate commercial connections with every 
part of the civilized world rendered it a time of much 
difficulty for the Government of the United States. We 
have had our seasons of peace and war, with all the 
evils which precede or follow a state of hostility with 
powerful nations. We encountered these trials with 
our Constitution yet in its infancy, and under the dis¬ 
advantages which a new and untried government must 
always feel when it is called upon to put forth its whole 
strength without the light of experience to guide it 
or the weight of precedence to justify its measures. 
But we have passed triumphantly through all these dif¬ 
ficulties. Our Constitution is no longer a doubtful ex¬ 
periment, and at the end of nearly half a century we 
find that it has preserved unimpaired the liberties of 
the people, secured the rights of property, and that our 
country has improved and is flourishing beyond any 
former example in the history of nations. 

“In presenting to you, my fellow citizens, these part- 


JACKSON 


143 


ing counsels, I have brought before you the leading 
principles upon which I endeavored to administer the 
government in the high office with which you twice hon¬ 
ored me, knowing that the path of freedom is continu¬ 
ally beset by enemies who often assume the disguise of 
friends, I have devoted the last hours of my public life 
to warn you of the dangers. The progress of the United 
States under our free and happy institutions has sur¬ 
passed the most sanguine hopes of the founders of the 
Republic. Our growth has been rapid beyond all for¬ 
mer example in numbers, in wealth, in knowledge, and 
all the useful arts which contribute to the comforts and 
convenience of man, and from the earliest ages of his¬ 
tory to the present day there never have been thirteen 
millions of people associated in one political body who 
enjoyed so much freedom and happiness as the people 
of these United States. .You no longer have any cause 
to fear danger from abroad; your strength and power 
are well known throughout the civilized world, as well 
as the high and gallant bearing of your sons. Lit is 
from within, among yourselves—from cupidity, from 
corruption, from disappointed ambition and inordinate 
thirst for power—that factions will be formed and lib¬ 
erty endangered.* It is against such designs, whatever 
disguise the actors may assume, that you have espe¬ 
cially to guard yourselves. You have the highest of 
human trusts committed to your care. Providence has 
showered on this favored land blessings without num¬ 
ber, and has chosen you as the guardian of freedom, 
to preserve it for the benefit of the human race. May 
He who holds in His hands the destiny of nations make 

* Compare with “The Fear for Thee, My Country”—by Edwin 

Markham. 




144 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


you worthy of the favors He has bestowed and enable 
you, with pure hearts and pure hands and sleepless vig¬ 
ilance, to guard and defend to the end of time the great 
charge He has committed to your keeping. 

“My own race is nearly run ; advanced age and fail¬ 
ing health warn me that before long I must pass be¬ 
yond the reach of human events and cease to feel the 
vicissitudes of human affairs. I thank God that my life 
has been spent in a land of liberty and that He has 
given me a heart to love my country with the affection 
of a son. And filled with gratitude for your constant 
and unwavering kindness, I bid you a last and an affec¬ 
tionate farewell. 

ANDREW JACKSON.”' 


INAUGURAL ADDRESS 145 


THE FEAR FOR THEE, MY COUNTRY* 

In storied Venice, where the night repeats 
The heaven of stars down all her rippling streets, 
Stood the great Bell Tower, fronting seas and skies— 
Fronting the ages, drawing all men’s eyes; 

Rooted like Teneriffe, aloft and proud, 

Taunting the lightning, tearing the flying cloud. 

It marked the hours for Venice: all men said 
Time cannot reach to bow that lofty head: 

Time, that shall touch all else with ruin, must 
Forbear to make this shaft confess its dust. 

Yet all the while, in secret, without sound, 

The fat worms gnawed the timbers underground. 

The twisting worm, whose epoch is an hour, 
Caverned his way into the mighty tower; 

Till suddenly it shook, swayed, it broke. 

And fell in darkening thunder at one stroke. 

The strong shaft, with an angel on the crown, 

Fell ruining: a thousand years went down! 

And so I fear, my country, not the hand 
That shall hurl night and whirlwind on the land; 

I fear not Titan traitors who shall rise 
To strike like Brocken shadows on our skies: 

These we can face in open fight, withstand 
With reddening rampart and the sworded hand. 


Printed through the courtesy of our great poet, Edwin Markham. 



146 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


I fear the vermin that shall undermine 
Senate and citadel and school and shrine— 

The Worm of Greed, the fatted Worm of Ease, 
And all the crawling progeny of these— 

The vermin that shall honeycomb the towers 
And walls of State in unsuspecting hours. 


WEBSTER 


147 


WEBSTER ON THE CLAY COMPROMISE 
March 7, 1850 

And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the 
possibility or utility of secession, instead of dwelling in 
these caverns of darkness, instead of groping with those 
ideas so full of all that is horrid and horrible, let us 
come out into the light of day; let us enjoy the fresh 
air of liberty and union; let us cherish those hopes 
which belong to us; let us devote ourselves to those 
great objects that are fit for our consideration and our 
action; let us raise our conceptions to the magnitude 
and the importance of the duties that devolve upon us; 
let our comprehension be as broad as the country for 
which we act, our aspirations as high as its certain des¬ 
tiny ; let us not be pigmies in a case that calls for men. 
Never did there devolve on any generation of men high¬ 
er trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preserva¬ 
tion of this Constitution, and the harmony and peace 
of all who are destined to live under it. Let us make 
cur generation one of the strongest and brightest links 
in that golden chain, which is destined, I fondly believe, 
to grapple the people of all the States to this Constitu¬ 
tion for ages to come. 

We have a great, popular, constitutional government, 
guarded by law and by judicature, and defended by the 
whole affections of the people. No monarchial throne 
presses these States together; no iron chain of military 
power encircles them; they live and stand upon a gov- 


148 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


eminent popular in its form, representative in its char¬ 
acter, founded upon principles of equality, and so con¬ 
structed, we hope, as to last forever. In all its history 
it has been beneficient; it has trodden down no man s 
liberty; it has crushed no State. Its daily respiration 
is liberty and patriotism; its yet youthful veins are full 
of enterprise, courage, and honorable love of glory and 
renown. Large before, the country has now, by recent 
events, become vastly larger. This Republic now ex¬ 
tends, with a vast breadth, across the whole continent.* 
The two great seas of the World wash the one and the 
other shore. We realize, on a mighty scale, the beau¬ 
tiful description of the ornamental edging of the buck¬ 
ler of Achilles,— 

“Now the broad shield complete, the artist crowned 
With his last hand, and poured the ocean round: 

In living silver seemed the waves to roll. 

And beat the buckler’s verge, and bound the whole.”: 

* Compare this with the following selection. 

“What do we want of the vast worthless area, this region of 
savages and wild beasts, of deserts of shifting sands and whirlwinds 
of dust, cactus and prairie dogs? To what use could we ever hope to 
put these deserts, or these endless mountain ranges, impenetrable and 
covered to their bases with eternal snow? What can we ever hope to 
do with the western coast of three thousand miles, rockbound, cheer¬ 
less and uninviting, with not a harbor in it? What use have we for 
such a country? Mr. President, I will never vote one cent from the 
public treasury to place the Pacific Coast one inch nearer Boston 
than it is today.” 

From a speech of Daniel Webster in 1844 against an appropria¬ 
tion of $50,000 to establish mail service for the Pacific Coast. 



LINCOLN 


149 


FROM LINCOLN’S FIRST INAUGURAL 
ADDRESS 

March 4, 1861 

It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of 
a President under our national Constitution. During 
that period, fifteen different and greatly distinguished 
citizens have, in succession, administered the executive 
branch of the government. They have conducted it 
through many perils, and generally with great success. 
Yet, with all this scope for precedent, I now enter upon 
the same task for the brief constitutional term of four 
years, under great and peculiar difficulty. A disrup¬ 
tion of the federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is 
now formidably attempted. 

I hold that in contemplation of universal law, and of 
the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. 
Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the funda¬ 
mental law of all national governments. It is safe to 
assert that no government proper ever had a provision 
in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to 
execute all the express provisions of our National gov¬ 
ernment, and the Union will endure forever—it being 
impossible to destroy it, except by some action not pro- 
vided for in the instrument itself. 

Again, if the United States be not a government 
proper, but an association of States in the nature of 
contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably un¬ 
made by less than all the parties who made it? One 



150 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


party to a contract may violate it—break it, so to speak; 
but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? 

Descending from these general principles, we find the 
proposition that, in legal contemplation, the Union is 
perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. 
The Union is much older than the Constitution. It 
was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 
1774. It was matured and continued by the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, 
and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly 
plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by 
the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And, finally, 
in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and 
establishing the Constitution was “to form a more per¬ 
fect Union.” 

But if destruction of the Union, by one, or by a part 
only, of the States, be lawfully possible, the Union is 
less perfect than before, the Constitution having lost 
the vital element of perpetuity. 

It follows, from these views, that no State, upon its 
own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; 
that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally 
void; and that acts of violence within any State or 
States, against the authority of the United States, are 
insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circum¬ 
stances. 

I, therefore, consider that, in view of the Constitu¬ 
tion and the laws, the Union is unbroken, and to the 
extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitu¬ 
tion itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of 
the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Do¬ 
ing this, I deem to be only a simple duty on my part; 
and I shall perform it, so far as practicable, unless my 


LINCOLN 


151 


rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold 
the requisite means, or, in some authoritative manner, 
direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded 
as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the 
Union that it will constitutionally defend and main¬ 
tain itself. In doing this there need be no bloodshed 
or violence; and there shall be none, unless it be forced 
upon the national authority. The power confided to me 
will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property 
and places belonging to the government, and to collect 
the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be nec¬ 
essary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no 
using of force against or among the people anywhere. 
Where hostility to the United States, in any interior 
locality, shall be so great and universal as to prevent 
competent resident citizens from holding the federal 
offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious 
strangers among the people for that object. While the 
strict legal right may exist in the government to en¬ 
force the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so 
would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable 
withal, that I deem it better to forego, for the time, the 
uses of such offices. 

GREEN'S ESTIMATE OF WASHINGTON 
“No nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a 

*For additional study of Washington read: 

Butterworth—Crown Our Washington; 

Lord Byron—Washington; 

Choate—The Birthday of Washington; 

Daniels—Address at the Dedication of Washington Monu¬ 
ment; 

Henry Lee—In Memory of George Washington; 

Lowell—Washington; 

Margaret E. Sangster—Washington’s Birthday. 

A History of the English People—John Richard Green, Vol. IV, , 



152 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Nation’s life. Washington was grave and courteous 
in address; his manners were simple and unpretend¬ 
ing; his silence and the serene calmness of his temper 
spoke of a perfect self-mastery. But there was little 
in his outer bearing to reveal the grandeur of soul 
which lifts his figure with all the simple majesty of 
an ancient statue out of the smaller passions, the meaner 
impulses of the World around him. What recommend¬ 
ed him for command was simply his weight among his 
fellow landowners of Virginia, and the experience of 
war which he had gained by service in border con¬ 
tests with the French and the Indians, as well as in 
Braddock’s luckless expedition against Fort Duquesne. 
It was only as the weary fight went on that the Col¬ 
onists discovered, however slowly and imperfectly, the 
greatness of their leader, his clear judgment, his heroic 
endurance, his silence under difficulties, his calmness in 
the hour of danger or defeat, the patience with which 
he waited, the quickness and hardness with which he 
struck, the lofty and serene sense of duty that never 
swerved from its task through resentment or jealousy, 
that never through war or peace felt the touch of a 
meaner ambition, that knew no aim save that of guarding 
the freedom of his fellow countrymen, and no personal 
longing save that of returning to his own fireside when 
their freedom was secured. It was almost unconsciously 
that men learned to cling to Washington with a trust 
and faith such as few other men have won, and to regard 
him with a reverence which still hushes us in presence of 
his memory. But even America hardly recognized his 
real greatness while he lived. It was only when death 
set its seal on him that the voice of those whom he had 
served so long proclaimed him ‘the man first in war, first 
in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen/ 


COOLIDGE 


153 


COOLIDGE PLEADS FOR IDEALS ON WHICH 
WASHINGTON FOUNDED NATION* 

“In far-off lands people are observing this day by 
taking thought of the qualities that gave Washington 
this foremost place among the truly great. They are 
drawn to this man by his abounding courage, and by 
bis unselfish devotion. Beyond that which was ever ac¬ 
corded to any other mortal, he holds rank as a soldier, 
statesman and a patriot. Others may have excelled him 
in some of these qualities, but no one ever excelled him 
in this three-fold greatness. Yet Washington, the man, 
seems to stand above them all. You can best estimate 
him by not identifying him with some high place, but 
by thinking of him as one of our selves. When all de¬ 
tailed description fails, it is enough to say he was a 
great man. He had a supreme endowment of character. 

“No one can think of America without thinking of 
Washington. When we look back over the course of 
history before his day, it seems as though it had all 
been a preparation for him and his time. When we con¬ 
sider events since then, we can see a steady growth and 
development of the ideals which he represented and the 
institutions which he founded, world-wide in extent. 
The principles which he fought to establish have be¬ 
come axioms of civilization. It might almost be said 
that the progress which peoples have made is measured 


* Address of the President of the United States, February 22, 1924. 



154 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


by the degree with which they have accepted the great 
policies which he represented. 

“It is not possible to compress a great life into a 
single sentence. We look upon Washington as the ex¬ 
ponent of the rights of man. We think of him as hav¬ 
ing established the independence of America. We asso¬ 
ciate his name with liberty and freedom. We say that 
he was a great influence in the adoption of the Consti¬ 
tution of the United States. All these are centered 
around the principle of self-government. But when we 
examine the meaning of independence, of constitutional 
liberty and of self-government, we do not find that 
they are simply rights which society can bestow upon 
us. They are very complex. They have to be earned. 
They have to be paid for. They arise only from the dis¬ 
charge of our obligations one to another. 

“Washington did not, could not, give anything to his 
countrymen. His greatness lies in the fact that he was 
successful in calling them to the performance of a 
higher duty. He showed them how to have a greater 
liberty by earning it. All that any society can do, all 
that any government can do, is to attempt to guarantee 
to the individual, the social, economic and political re¬ 
wards of his own effort and industry. The America 
which Washington founded does not mean we shall 
have everything done for us, but that we shall have 
every opportunity to do everything for ourselves. This 
is liberty, but it is liberty only through the acceptance 
of responsibility. 

“Self-government does not purge us of all our faults, 
but there are very few students of the affairs of man¬ 
kind who would deny that the theory upon which our 
institutions proceed gives the best results that have ever 


COOLIDGE 


155 


been given to any people. When there is a failure, it is 
not because the system has failed, but because we have 
failed. For the purpose of ensuring liberty, for enact¬ 
ment of sound legislation, for the administration of 
even-handed justice, for the faithful execution of the 
laws, no institutions have ever given greater promise 
or more worthy performance than those which are rep¬ 
resented by the name of Washington. 

“We have changed our Constitution and laws to 
meet changing conditions and a better appreciation of 
the broad requirements of humanity. We have ex¬ 
tended and increased the direct power of the voter. But 
the central idea of self-government remains unchanged. 
While we realize that freedom and independence of the 
individual mean increased responsibility for the indi¬ 
vidual, while we know that the people do and must sup¬ 
port the Government, and that the Government does not 
and cannot support the people, yet the protection of the 
individual from the power now represented by organ¬ 
ized numbers and consolidated wealth require many 
activities on the part of the Government which were not 
needed in the days of Washington. Many laws are 
necessary for this purpose, both in the name of justice 
and of humanity. Efforts in this direction are not for 
the purpose of undermining the independence of the 
individual, but for the purpose of maintaining for him 
an equal opportunity. They are made on the theory 
that each individual is entitled to live his own life in his 
own way, free from every kind of tyranny and oppres¬ 
sion. 

£We have not yet reached the goal of Washington's 
ideals. They are not yet fully understood. He was a 
practical man. He suffered from no delusions. He knew 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


156 

that there was no power to establish a system under 
which existence could be supported without efforts. 
Those who now expect anything in that direction are 
certain to be disappointed. He held out no promise of 
unearned rewards, either in small or large amounts. On 
the other hand, if no one ought to receive gain except 
for service rendered, no one ought to be required serv¬ 
ice except for reasonable compensation. Equality and 
justice both require that there should be no profiteering 
and no exploitation. Under the Constitution of the 
United States there is neither any peasantry or any 
order of nobility. Politically, economically and socially, 
service and character are to reign, and service and char¬ 
acter alone. 

“Such is the meaning of the life of George Washing¬ 
ton, who came into being nearly two hundred years ago. 
He left the world stronger and better. He made life 
broader and sweeter.” 




FAREWELL ADDRESS 


157 


GEORGE WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL 
ADDRESS 

United States, September 17, 1796 

Friends and Fellow Citizens: 

The period for a new election of a citizen to admin¬ 
ister the Executive Government of the United States 
being not far distant, and the time actually arrived 
when your thoughts must be employed in designating 
the person who is to be clothed with that important 
trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may con¬ 
duce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, 
that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have 
formed to decline being considered among the number 
of those out of whom a choice is to be made. 

I beg you at the same time to do me the justice to 
be assured that this resolution has not been taken with¬ 
out a strict regard to all the considerations appertain¬ 
ing to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his 
country; and that in withdrawing the tender of ser¬ 
vice, which silence in my situation might imply, I am 
influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future in¬ 
terest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past 
kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that 
the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of and continuance hitherto in the 
office to which your suffrages have twice called me 
have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opin- 


158 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be 
your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have 
been much earlier in my power, consistently with mo¬ 
tive which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return 
to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly 
drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this pre¬ 
vious to the last election had even led to the prepara¬ 
tion of an address to declare it to you; but mature 
reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of 
our affairs with foreign nations and the unanimous 
advice of persons entitled to my confidence impelled 
me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your 
concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders 
the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the senti¬ 
ment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever 
partiality may be retained for my services, that in the 
present circumstances of our country you will not dis¬ 
approve my determination to retire. 

The impressions with which I first undertook the 
arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion 
In the discharge of this trust I will only say that I 
have, with good intentions, contributed toward the 
organization and administration of the Government 
the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment 
was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the in¬ 
feriority of my qualifications, experience in my own 
eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others has 
strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and 
every day the increasing weight of years admonishes 
me more and more that the shade of retirement is as 
necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that 
it any circumstances have given peculiar value to my 
services they were temporary, I have the consolation to 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 


159 


believe that, while choice and prudence invoke me to 
quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment which is intended 
to terminate the career of my political life my feelings 
do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment 
of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved 
country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; 
still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has 
supported me, and for the opportunities I have thence 
enjoyed of manifesting my inviolate attachment by ser¬ 
vices faithful and persevering, though in usefulness un¬ 
equal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our coun¬ 
try from these services, let it always be remembered 
to your praise and as an instructive example in our 
annals that under circumstances in which the passions, 
agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead; 
amidst appearances sometimes dubious; vicissitudes of 
fortune often discouraging; in situations in which not 
unfrequently want of success has countenanced the 
spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was 
the essential prop of the efforts and a guaranty of the 
plans by which they were effected. Profoundly pene¬ 
trated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my 
grave as a strong incitement to increasing vows that 
Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its 
beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection 
may be perpetual; that the free Constitution which is 
the work of your hands may be sacredly maintained; 
that its administration in every department may be 
stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the 
happiness of the people of these States, under the aus¬ 
pices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a 
preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as 


160 


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will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to 
the applause, the affection, and adoption of every na¬ 
tion which is yet a stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for 
your welfare which can not end but with my life, and 
the apprehension of danger natural to that solicitude, 
urge me on an occasion like the present to offer to your 
solemn contemplation and to recommend to your fre¬ 
quent review some sentiments which are the result of 
much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and 
which appear to me all important to the permanency of 
your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you 
with the more freedom as you can only see in them the 
disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can 
possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. 
Nor can I forget as an encouragement to it your indul¬ 
gent reception of my sentiments on a former and not 
dissimilar occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every liga¬ 
ment of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is nec¬ 
essary to fortify or confirm the attachment. 

The unity of government which constitutes you one 
people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it 
is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, 
the support of your tranquility at home, your peace 
abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very 
liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to 
foresee that from different causes and from different 
quarters much pains will be taken, many artifices em¬ 
ployed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this 
truth, as this is the point in your political fortress 
against which the batteries of internal and external 
enemies will be most constantly and actively (though 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 


161 


often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite 
moment that you should properly estimate the immense 
value of your national union to your collective and in¬ 
dividual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, 
habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustom¬ 
ing yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palla¬ 
dium of your political safety and prosperity; watching 
for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discounte¬ 
nancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it 
can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frown¬ 
ing upon the first drawing of every attempt to alienate 
any portion of our country from the rest or to en¬ 
feeble the sacred ties which now link together the va¬ 
rious parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy 
and interest. Citizens by birth or choice of a common 
country, that country has a right to concentrate your 
affections. The name of American, which belongs to 
you in your national capacity, must always exalt the 
just pride of patriotism more than any appellation de¬ 
rived from local discriminations. With slight shades 
of difference, you have the same religion, manners, 
habits, and political principles. You have in a com¬ 
mon cause fought and triumphed together. The inde¬ 
pendence and liberty you possess are the work of joint 
councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, suffer¬ 
ings, and successes. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they 
address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly out¬ 
weighed by those which apply more immediately to 
your interest. Here every portion of our country finds 
the most commanding motives for carefully guarding 
and preserving the union of the whole. 



162 


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The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the 
South, protected by the equal laws of a common Gov¬ 
ernment, finds in the productions of the latter great 
additional resources of maritime and commercial enter¬ 
prise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. 
The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the 
same agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow 
and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own 
channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular 
navigation invigorated; and while it contributes in dif¬ 
ferent ways to nourish and increase the general mass 
of the national navigation, it looks forward to the pro¬ 
tection of a maritime strength to which itself is un¬ 
equally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with 
the West, already finds, and in the progressive improve¬ 
ment of interior communications by land and water will 
more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodi¬ 
ties which it brings from abroad or manufactures at 
home. The West derives from the East supplies requi¬ 
site to its growth and comfort, and what is perhaps of 
still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the 
secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own 
productions to the weight, influence, and the future 
maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, 
directed by an indissoluble community of interest as 
one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can 
hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its 
own separate strength or from an apostate and unnat¬ 
ural connection with any foreign power, must be intrin¬ 
sically precarious. 

While, then, every part of the country thus feels an 
immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts 
combined can not fail to find in the united mass of 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 


163 


means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, 
proportionably greater security from external danger, 
a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign 
nations, and what is of inestimable value, they must de¬ 
rive from union an exemption from those broils and 
wars between themselves which so frequently afflict 
neighboring countries not tied together by the same 
governments, which their own rivalships alone would 
be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alli¬ 
ances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and 
embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the neces¬ 
sity of those overgrown military establishments which, 
under any form of government, are inauspicious to lib¬ 
erty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hos¬ 
tile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your 
union ought to be considered as a main prop of your 
liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to 
you the preservation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to 
every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the con¬ 
tinuance of the union as a primary object of patriotic 
desire. Is there a doubt whether a common govern¬ 
ment can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience 
solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case 
were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper 
organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of 
governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford 
a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a 
fair and full experiment. With such powerful and ob¬ 
vious motives to union affecting all parts of our coun¬ 
try, while experience shall not have demonstrated its 
impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust 
the patriotism of those who in any quarter may en¬ 
deavor to weaken its hands. 


164 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


In contemplating the causes which may disturb our 
union it occurs as a matter of serious concern that any 
ground should have been furnished for characterizing 
parties by geographical discriminations—Northern and 
Southern, Atlantic and Western—whence designing 
men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real 
difference of local interests and views. One of the ex¬ 
pedients of party to acquire influence within particular 
districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of 
other districts. You can not shield yourselves too much 
against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring 
from these misrepresentations; they tend to render 
alien to each other those who ought to be bound to¬ 
gether by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our 
Western country have lately had a useful lesson on 
this head. They have seen in the negotiation by the 
Executive and in the unanimous ratification by the Sen¬ 
ate of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satis¬ 
faction at that event throughout the United States, a 
decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions prop¬ 
agated among them of a policy in the general Gov¬ 
ernment and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their 
interests in regard to the Mississippi. They have been 
witnesses to. the formation of two treaties—that with 
Great Britain and that with Spain—which secure to 
them everything they could desire in respect to our for¬ 
eign relations toward confirming their prosperity. Will 
it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of 
these advantages on the union by which they were pro¬ 
cured? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those ad¬ 
visers, if such there are, who would sever them from 
their brethren and connect them with aliens ? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union a Gov- 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 


165 


ernment for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, 
however, strict, between the parts can be an adequate 
substitute. They must inevitably experience the infrac¬ 
tions and interruptions which all alliances in all times 
have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, 
you have improved upon your first essay by the adop¬ 
tion of a Constitution of Government better calculated 
than your former for an intimate union and for the effi¬ 
cacious management of your common concerns. This 
Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninflu¬ 
enced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and 
mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in 
the distribution of its powers, uniting security with en¬ 
ergy, and containing within itself a provision for its 
own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and 
your support. Respect for its authority, compliance 
with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties 
enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. 
The basis of our political systems is the right of the 
people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Gov¬ 
ernment. But the Constitution which at any time ex¬ 
ists till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the 
whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very 
idea of the power and the right of the people to estab¬ 
lish Government presupposes the duty of every indi¬ 
vidual to obey the established Government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all com¬ 
binations and associations, under whatever plausible 
character, with the real design to direct, control, coun¬ 
teract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of 
the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fun¬ 
damental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve 
to organize faction; to give it an artificial and extra- 


166 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 




ordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will 
of the Nation the will of a party, often a small but art¬ 
ful and enterprising minority of the community, and, 
according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, 
to make the public administration the mirror of the ill- 
concerted and incongruous projects of faction rather 
than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, 
digested by common counsels and modified by mutual 
interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above 
description may now and then answer popular ends, 
they are likely in the course of time and things to be¬ 
come potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and 
unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power 
of the people, and usurp for themselves the reins of 
Government, destroying afterwards the very engines 
which have lifted them to unjust dominion. 

Toward the preservation of your Government and 
the permanency of your present happy state, it is requi¬ 
site not only that you steadily discountenance irregular 
oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that 
you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its 
principles, however specious the pretexts. One method 
of assault may be to affect in the forms of the Consti¬ 
tution alterations which will impair the energy of the 
system, and thus to undermine what can not be directly 
overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be 
invited remember that time and habit are at least as 
necessary to fix the true character of Governments as 
of other human institutions; that experience is the 
surest standard by which to test the real tendency of 
the existing Constitution of a country; that facility in 
changes upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 


167 


exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety 
of hypothesis and opinion; and remember especially 
that for the efficient management of your common in¬ 
terests in a country so extensive as ours a Government 
of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect se¬ 
curity of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will 
find in such a Government, with powers properly dis¬ 
tributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, in¬ 
deed, little else than a name where the Government is 
too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to 
confine each member of the society within the limits 
prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure 
and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and 
property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of par¬ 
ties in the State, with particular reference to the found¬ 
ing of them on geographical discriminations. Let me 
now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you 
in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects 
of the spirit of party generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our 
nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the 
human mind. It exists under different shapes in all 
governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or re¬ 
pressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in 
its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy. 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, 
sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dis¬ 
sension, which in different ages and countries has per¬ 
petrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful 
despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal 
and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries 
which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek 


168 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


security and repose in the absolute power of an indi¬ 
vidual, and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing 
faction, more able or more fortunate than his compet¬ 
itors, turns his disposition to the purposes of his own 
elevation on the ruins of public liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind 
(which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of 
sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit 
of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty 
of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. 

It serves always to distract the public councils and 
enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the 
community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms ; 
kindles the animosity of one part against another; fo¬ 
ments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the 
door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a 
facilitated access to the Government itself through the 
channels of party passion. Thus the policy and the 
will of one country are subjected to the policy and will 
of another. 

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are 
useful checks upon the administration of the Govern¬ 
ment, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This 
within certain limits is probably true; and in Govern¬ 
ments of a monarchical cast patriotism may look with 
indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. 
But in those of the popular character, in Governments 
purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From 
their natural tendency it is certain there will always be 
enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and 
there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought 
to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage 
it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform 





FAREWELL ADDRESS 


169 


vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, in¬ 
stead of warming, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking 
in a free country should inspire caution in those in¬ 
trusted with its administration to confine themselves 
within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding 
in the exercise of the powers of one department to en¬ 
croach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends 
to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, 
and thus to create, whatever the form of Government, 
a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power 
and proneness to abuse it which predominates in the 
human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of 
this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the 
exercise of political power, by dividing and distribut¬ 
ing it into different depositories, and constituting each 
the guardian of the public weal against invasions by 
the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and 
modern, some of them in our country and under our 
own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as 
to institute them. If in the opinion of the people the 
distribution or modification of the constitutional powers 
be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an 
amendment in the way which the Constitution desig¬ 
nates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for 
though this in one instance may be the instrument of 
good, it is the customary weapon by which free Gov¬ 
ernments are destroyed. The precedent must always 
greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or 
transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to po¬ 
litical prosperity, religion and morality are indispen¬ 
sable supports. In vain would that man claim the trib- 


170 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these 
great pillars of human happiness—these firmest props 
of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, 
equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to 
cherish them. A volume could not trace all their con¬ 
nections with private and public felicity. Let it simply 
be asked, Where is the security for property, for repu¬ 
tation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation de¬ 
sert the oaths which are the instruments of investiga¬ 
tion in courts of justice? And let us with caution in¬ 
dulge the supposition that morality can be maintained 
without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the 
influence of refined education on minds of peculiar 
structure, reason and experience both forbid us to ex¬ 
pect that national morality can prevail in exclusion 
of religious principle. 

It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a 
necessary spring of popular Government. The rule 
indeed extends with more or less force to every species 
of free Government. Who that is a sincere friend to 
it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake 
the foundation of the fabric? Promote, then, as an 
object of primary importance, institutions for the gen¬ 
eral diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the struc¬ 
ture of a Government gives force to public opinion, it 
is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, 
cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is 
to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions 
of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also 
that timely disbursements to prepare for danger fre¬ 
quently prevent much greater disbursements to repel 
it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 171 

by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous ex¬ 
ertions in time of peace to discharge the debts which 
unavoidable wars have occasioned, not ungenerously 
throwing upon posterity the burthen which we our¬ 
selves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims 
belongs to your representatives; but it is necessary 
that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to 
them the performance of their duty it is essential that 
you should practically bear in mind that toward the 
payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have 
revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be de¬ 
vised which are not more or less inconvenient and un¬ 
pleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable 
from the selection of the proper objects (which is al¬ 
ways a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive 
motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the 
Government in making it, and for a spirit of acquies- 
ence in the measures for obtaining revenue which the 
public exigencies may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. 
Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and 
morality enjoin this conduct. And can it be that good 
policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of 
a free, enlightened, and at no distant period a great 
nation to give to mankind the magnanimous and too 
novel example of a people always guided by an exalted 
justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the 
course of time and things the fruits of such a plan 
would richly repay any temporary advantages which 
might be lost by a steady adherence to it? Can it be 
that providence has not connected the permanent felicity 
of a nation with its virtue. The experiment, at least, is 
recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human 


172 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices? 

In the execution of such a plan nothing is more 
essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies 
against particular nations and passionate attachments 
for others should be excluded, and that in place of them 
just and amicable feelings toward all should be culti¬ 
vated. The nation which indulges toward another an 
habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some de¬ 
gree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its 
affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray, 
from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation 
against another disposes each more readily to offer 
insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of um¬ 
brage, and to be haughty and intractable when acci¬ 
dental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. 

Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and 
bloody contests. The nation prompted by ill will and 
resentment sometimes impels to war the government 
contrary to the best calculations of policy. The gov¬ 
ernment sometimes participates in the national propen¬ 
sity, and adopts through passion what reason would 
reject. At other times it makes the animosity of the 
nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated 
by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious 
motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the lib¬ 
erty, of nations has been the victim. 

So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation 
for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for 
the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imag¬ 
inary common interest in cases where no real common 
interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the 
other, betrays the former into a participation in the 
quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate induce- 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 


173 


ment or justification. It leads also to concessions to 
the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which 
is apt doubly to injure the nation making the conces¬ 
sions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to 
have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill will, 
and a disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom 
equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitious, 
corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves 
to the favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice 
the interests of their own country without odium, some¬ 
times even with popularity, gilding with the appear¬ 
ances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable 
deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for pub¬ 
lic good the base or foolish compliances of ambition, 
corruption, or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, 
such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly 
enlightened and independent patriot. How many op¬ 
portunities do they afford to tamper with domestic fac¬ 
tions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead pub¬ 
lic opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! 
Such an attachment of a small or weak toward a great 
and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satel¬ 
lite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of for¬ 
eign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow- 
citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be con¬ 
stantly awake, since history and experience prove that 
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of 
republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, 
must be impartial, else it becomes the instrument of 
the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense 
against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation 
and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they 


174 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to 
veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. 
Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the fav¬ 
orite are liable to become suspected and odious, while 
its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence 
of the people to surrender their interests. 

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign 
nations is, in extending our commercial relations to 
have with them as litttle political connection as possible. 
So far as we have already formed engagements let them 
be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests which to us 
have none or a very remote relation. Hence she must 
be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of 
which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, 
therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves 
by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her pol¬ 
itics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her 
friendships or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites and en¬ 
ables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one 
people, under an efficient government, the period is not 
far off when we may defy material injury from external 
annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will 
cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon 
to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, 
under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, 
will not lightly hazard the giving of provocation; when 
we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided 
by justice, shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situa¬ 
tion? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? 
Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 


175 


of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the 
toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, 
or caprice? 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alli¬ 
ances with any portion of the foreign world, so far, I 
mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not 
be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to 
existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less ap¬ 
plicable to public than to private affairs that honesty 
is always the best policy. I repeat, therefore, let those 
engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But 
in my opinion it is unnecessary and would be unwise 
to extend them. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable 
establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we 
may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordi¬ 
nary emergencies. 

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations are rec¬ 
ommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even 
our commercial policy should hold an equal and impar¬ 
tial hand, neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors 
or preferences; consulting the natural course of things, 
diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams 
of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with 
powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable 
course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to 
enable the Government to support them, conventional 
rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances 
and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary and lia¬ 
ble to be from time to time abandoned or varied as ex¬ 
perience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly 
keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for 
disinterested favors from another; that it must pay 


176 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


with a portion of its independence for whatever it may 
accept under that character; that by such acceptance 
it may place itself in the condition of having given 
equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being re¬ 
proached with ingratitude for not giving more. There 
can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon 
real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion 
which experience must cure, which a just pride ought 
to discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels 
of an old and affectionate friend I dare not hope they 
will make the strong and lasting impression I could 
wish—that they will control the usual current of the 
passions or prevent our nation from running the course 
which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But 
if I may even flatter myself that they may be pro¬ 
ductive of some partial benefit, some occasional good— 
that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury 
of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign 
intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended 
patriotism—this hope will be a full recompense for the 
solicitude for your welfare by which they have been 
dictated. 

How far in the discharge of my official duties I have 
been guided by the principles which have been delin¬ 
eated the public records and other evidences of my con¬ 
duct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, 
the assurance of my own conscience is that I have at 
least believed myself to be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe my 
proclamation of the 22nd of April, 1793, is the index 
to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice and 
by that of your representatives in both Houses of Con- 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 


177 


gress, the spirit of that measure has continually gov¬ 
erned me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or 
divert me from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best 
lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our coun¬ 
try, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right 
to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take a 
neutral position. Having taken it, I determined as far 
as should depend upon me to maintain it with moder¬ 
ation, perseverance, and firmness. 

The considerations which respect the right to hold 
this conduct it is not necessary on this occasion to de¬ 
tail. I will only observe that, according to my under¬ 
standing of the matter, that right, so far from being 
denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been vir¬ 
tually admitted by all. 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be in¬ 
ferred, without anything more, from the obligation 
which justice and humanity impose on every nation, 
in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate 
the relations of peace and amity toward other nations. 

The inducements of interest for observing that con¬ 
duct will best be referred to your own reflections and 
experience. With me a predominant motive has been 
to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and 
mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress with¬ 
out interruption to that degree of strength and con¬ 
sistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speak¬ 
ing, the command of its own fortunes. 

Though in reviewing the incidents of my administra¬ 
tion I am unconscious of intentional error, I am never¬ 
theless too sensible of my defects not to think it prob¬ 
able that I may have committed many errors. What- 


178 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to 
avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I 
shall also carry with me the hope that my country will 
never cease to view them with indulgence, and that, 
after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service 
with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities 
will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be 
to the mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and 
actuated by that fervent love toward it which is so nat¬ 
ural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself 
and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate 
with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I prom¬ 
ise myself to realize without alloy the sweet enjoyment 
of partaking in the midst of my fellow-citizens the be¬ 
nign influence of good laws under a free government— 
the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy 
reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and 
dangers. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


179 


THE MONROE DOCTRINE 

From our early history under the Constitution the 
United States has had no uncertain foreign policy. 
The Monroe Doctrine has stood the test of varying 
conditions during the past century. It is stronger to¬ 
day than ever before and it is destined to take its place 
among the pronouncements of international law. Its 
evolution is traced by many quotations of our Ameri¬ 
can Presidents. 


180 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


A PROCLAMATION 

By the President of the United States of America 
April 22, 1793 

Whereas, it appears that a state of war exists be¬ 
tween Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and 
the United Netherlands on the one part and France on 
the other, and the duty and interest of the United States 
require that they should with sincerity and good faith 
adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial to¬ 
ward the belligerent powers: 

I have therefore thought fit by these presents to de¬ 
clare the disposition of the United States to observe 
the conduct aforesaid toward these powers respectively, 
and to exhort and warn the citizens of the United States 
carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings whatsover 
which may in any manner tend to contravene such dis¬ 
position. 

And I do hereby also make known that whosoever 
of the citizens of the United States shall render him¬ 
self liable to punishment or forfeiture under the law 
of nations by committing, aiding, or abetting hostilities 
against any of the said powers, or by carrying to any 
of them these articles which are deemed contraband by 
the modern usage of nations, will not receive the pro¬ 
tection of the United States against such punishment 
or forfeiture; and further, that I have given instruc¬ 
tions to those officers to whom it belongs to cause pros- 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


181 


editions to be instituted against all persons who shall, 
within the cognizance of the courts of the United States, 
violate the law of nations with respect to the powers at 
war, or any of them. 

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the 
United States of America to be fixed to these presents, 
and signed the same with my hand. 

Done at the City of Philadelphia, the 22d day of 
April, 1793, and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the seventeenth. 

(Seal) GO. WASHINGTON. 

By the President: 

TH. JEFFERSON. 


182 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


WASHINGTON’S FIFTH ANNUAL ADDRESS* 

Philadelphia, December 3, 1793. 

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of 
Representatives: 

Since the commencement of the term for which I 
have been again called into office no fit occasion has 
arisen for expressing to my fellow citizens at large the 
deep and respectful sense which I feel of the renewed 
testimony of public approbation. While on the one 
hand it awakened my gratitude for all those instances 
of affectionate partiality with which I have been hon¬ 
ored by my country, on the other it could not prevent 
an earnest wish for that retirement from which no pri¬ 
vate consideration should ever have torn me. But in¬ 
fluenced by the belief that my conduct would be esti¬ 
mated according to its real motives, and that the peo¬ 
ple, and the authorities derived from them, would sup¬ 
port exertions having nothing personal for their object, 
I have obeyed the suffrage which commanded me to 
resume the executive power; and I humbly implore that 
Being on whose will the fate of nations depends to 
crown with success our mutual endeavors for the gen¬ 
eral happiness. 

As soon as the war in Europe had embraced those 
powers with whom the United States have the most 
extensive relations there was reason to apprehend that 


* See Washington’s Farewell Address, page 157. 



MONROE DOCTRINE 


183 


our intercourse with them might be interrupted and 
our disposition for peace drawn into question by the 
suspicions too often entertained by belligerent nations. 
It seemed, therefore, to be my duty to admonish our 
citizens of the consequences of a contraband trade and 
of hostile acts to any of the parties, and to obtain by 
a declaration of the existing legal state of things an 
easier admission of our right to the immunities belong¬ 
ing to our situation. Under these impressions the proc¬ 
lamation which will be laid before you was issued. 

In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I 
resolved to adopt general rules which should conform 
to the treaties and assert the privileges of the United 
States. These were reduced into a system, which will 
be communicated to you. Although I have not thought 
myself at liberty to forbid the sale of the prizes per¬ 
mitted by our treaty of commerce with France to be 
brought into our ports, I have not refused to cause them 
to be restored when taken within the protection of our 
territory, or by vessels commissioned or equipped in a 
warlike form within the limits of the United States. 

It rests with the wisdom of Congress to correct, im¬ 
prove, or enforce this plan of procedure; and it will 
probably be found expedient to extend the legal code 
and the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States 
to many cases which, though dependent on principles 
already recognized, demand some further provisions. 

Where individuals shall, within the United States, 
array themselves in hostility against any of the powers 
at war, or enter upon military expeditions or enter¬ 
prises within the jurisdiction of the United States, or 
usurp and exercise judicial authority within the United 
States, or where the penalties on violations of the law 



184 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


of nations may have been indistinctly marked, or are 
inadequate—these offenses can not receive too early 
and close an attention, and require prompt and de¬ 
cisive remedies. 

Whatsover those remedies may be, they will be well 
administered by the judiciary, who possess a long-estab¬ 
lished course of investigation, effectual process, and 
officers in the habit of executing it. 

In like manner, as several of the courts have doubted, 
under particular circumstances, their power to liberate 
the vessels of a nation at peace, and even of a citizen 
of the United States, although seized under a false color 
of being hostile property, and have denied their power 
to liberate certain captures within the protection of our 
territory, it would seem proper to regulate their juris¬ 
diction in these points. But if the executive is to be 
the resort in either of the two last-mentioned cases, it 
is hoped that he will be authorized by law to have facts 
ascertained by the courts when for his own informa¬ 
tion he shall request it. 

I can not recommend to your notice measures for the 
fulfillment of our duties to the rest of the world with¬ 
out again pressing upon you the necessity of placing 
ourselves in a condition of complete defense and of ex¬ 
acting from them the fulfillment of their duties towards 
us. The United States ought not to indulge a persua¬ 
sion that, contrary to the order of human events, they 
will forever keep at a distance those painful appeals 
to arms with which the history of every other nation 
abounds. There is a rank due to the United States 
among nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely 
lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to 
avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


185 


to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments 
of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are 
at all times ready for war. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


186 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


FROM JEFFERSON’S FIRST INAUGURAL 
ADDRESS 

At Washington, D. C. 

“About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of 
duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable 
to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem 
the essential principles of our government, and conse¬ 
quently those which ought to shape its administration. 
1 will compress them within the narrowest compass 
they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all 
limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of what¬ 
ever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, 
commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, en¬ 
tangling alliances with none; the support of the State 
governments in all their rights, as the most competent 
administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest 
bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the pres¬ 
ervation of the general government in its whole consti¬ 
tutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home 
and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of elec¬ 
tion by the people—a mild and safe corrective of abuses 
which are lopped by the sword of revolution where 
peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquies¬ 
cence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle 
of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the 
vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a 
well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


187 


for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve 
them; the supremacy of the civil over the military au¬ 
thority; economy in the public expense, that labor may 
be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts 
and sacred preservation of the public faith; encourage¬ 
ment of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; 
the diffusion of information and arraignment of all 
abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of re¬ 
ligion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person 
under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial 
by juries impartially selected. These principles form 
the biggest constellation which has gone before us and 
guided our steps through an age of revolution and 
reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of 
our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They 
should be the creed of our political faith, the text of 
civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the 
services of those we trust; and should we wander from 
them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to 
retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone 
leads to peace, liberty, and safety.” 

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



188 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


PRESIDENT MADISON’S MESSAGE TO 
CONGRESS 

Washington, January 3, 1811. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States: 

I communicate to Congress, in confidence, a letter of 
the 2d of December from Governor Folch, of West 
Florida, to the Secretary of State, and another of the 
same date from the same to John McKee. 

I communicate in like manner a letter from the Brit¬ 
ish Charge d’ Afifairs to the Secretary of State, with 
the answer of the latter. Although the letter can not 
have been written in consequence of any instruction 
from the British Government founded on the late order 
for taking possession of the portion of West Florida 
well known to be claimed by the United States; al¬ 
though no communication has ever been made by that 
government to this of any stipulation with Spain con¬ 
templating an interposition which might so materially 
affect the United States, and although no call can have 
been made by Spain in the present instance for the ful¬ 
fillment of any such subsisting engagement, yet the 
spirit and scope of the document, with the accredited 
source from which it proceeds, required that it should 
not be withheld from the consideration of Congress. 

Taking into view the tenor of these several commu¬ 
nications, the posture of things with which they are 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


189 


connected, the intimate relation of the country adjoin¬ 
ing the United States eastward of the river Perdido 
to their security and tranquility, and the peculiar in¬ 
terest they otherwise have in its destiny, I recommend 
to the consideration of Congress the seasonableness of 
a declaration that the United States could not see with¬ 
out serious inquietude any part of a neighboring terri¬ 
tory in which they have in different respects so deep 
and so just a concern pass from the hands of Spain into 
those of any other foreign power. 

I recommend to their consideration also the expe¬ 
diency of authorizing the executive to take temporary 
possession of any part or parts of the said territory, in 
pursuance of arrangements which may be desired by 
the Spanish authorities, and for making provision for 
the government of the same during such possession. 

The wisdom of Congress will at the same time de¬ 
termine how far it may be expedient to provide for the 
event of a subversion of the Spanish authorities within 
the territory in question, and an apprehended occu¬ 
pancy thereof by any other foreign power. 

JAMES MADISON. 


190 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


PRESIDENT MONROE’S ANNUAL MESSAGE 
TO CONGRESS 

December 2, 1823 


At the proposal of the Russian Imperial Government, 
made through the minister of the Emperor residing 
here, a full power and instructions have been trans¬ 
mitted to the minister of the United States at St. Pe¬ 
tersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respec¬ 
tive rights and interests of the two nations on the north¬ 
west coast of this continent. A similar proposal had 
been made by His Imperial Majesty to the Government 
)f Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. 
The Government of the United States has been desir¬ 
ous by this friendly proceeding of manifesting the great 
value which they have invariably attached to the friend¬ 
ship of the Emperor and their solicitude to cultivate 
the best understanding with his Government. In the 
discussions to which this interest has given rise and 
in the arrangement by which they may terminate, the 
occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a 
principle in which the rights and interests of the United 
States are involved, that the American continents, by 
the free and independent condition which they have 
assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be con¬ 
sidered as subjects for future colonization by any Eu¬ 
ropean powers. 



MONROE DOCTRINE 


191 


“It was stated at the commencement of the last ses¬ 
sion that a great effort was then making in Spain and 
Portugal to improve the condition of the people of those 
countries, and that it appeared to be conducted with 
extraordinary moderation. It need scarcely be remark¬ 
ed that the result has been so far very different from 
what was then anticipated. Of events in that quarter 
of the Globe, with which we have so much intercourse 
and from which we derive our origin, we have always 
been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens 
of the United States cherish sentiments the most friend¬ 
ly in favor of the liberty and happiness of their fellow 
men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of Euro¬ 
pean powers in matters relating to themselves we have 
never taken any part, nor does it comport with our 
policy to do so. It is only when our rights are invaded 
or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make 
preparation for our defense. With the movements in 
this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately 
connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all 
enlightened and impartial observers. The political sys¬ 
tem of the allied powers is essentially different in this 
respect from that of America. This difference proceeds 
from that which exists in their respective governments; 
and to the defense of our own, which has been achieved 
by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured 
by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and 
under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this 
whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to can¬ 
dor and to the amicable relations existing between the 
United States and those powers to declare that we 
should consider any attempt on their part to extend 
their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dan- 


192 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


gerous to our peace and safety. With the existing col¬ 
onies or dependencies of any European power we have 
not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the 
governments who have declared their independence and 
maintained it, and whose independence we have, on 
great consideration and on just principles, acknowl¬ 
edged, we could not view any interposition for the pur¬ 
pose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other 
manner their destiny, by any European power in any 
other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly 
disposition toward the United States. In the war be¬ 
tween those new governments and Spain we declared 
our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to 
this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, pro¬ 
vided no change shall occur which, in the judgment of 
the competent authorities of this government, shall make 
a corresponding change on the part of the United States 
indispensable to their security. 

“The late events in Spain and Portugal show that 
Europe is still unsettled. Of this important fact no 
stronger fact, no stronger proof can be adduced than 
that the allied powers should have thought it proper, 
on any principle satisfactory to themselves, to have in¬ 
terposed by force in the internal concerns of Spain. To 
what extent such interposition may be carried, on the 
same principle, is a question in which all independent 
powers whose governments differ from theirs are inter¬ 
ested, even those most remote, and surely none more so 
than the United States. Our policy in regard to Eu¬ 
rope, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars 
which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, 
nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to inter¬ 
fere in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


193 


consider the government de facto as the legitimate gov¬ 
ernment for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, 
and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and 
manly policy, meeting in all instances the just claims 
of every power, submitting to injuries from none. 
But in regard to those continents circumstances are 
eminently and conspicuously different. It is impossible 
that the allied powers should extend their political sys¬ 
tem to any portion of either continent without endan¬ 
gering our peace and happiness; nor can anyone be¬ 
lieve that our southern brethren, if left to themselves, 
would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally im¬ 
possible, therefore, that we should behold such inter¬ 
position in any form with indifference. If we look to 
the comparative strength and resources of Spain and 
those new governments, and their distance from each 
other, it must be obvious that she can never subdue 
them. It is still the true policy of the United States to 
leave the parties to themselves, in the hope that other 
powers will pursue the same course.” 

JAMES MONROE. 


194 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 




FROM PRESIDENT MONROE’S EIGHTH 
ANNUAL MESSAGE 

December 7, 1824 

‘‘With respect to the contest to which our neighbors 
are a party, it is evident that Spain as a power is 
scarcely felt in it. These new States had completely 
achieved their independence before it was acknowledged 
by the United States, and they have since maintained 
it with little foreign pressure. The disturbances which 
have appeared in certain portions of that vast territory 
have proceeded from internal causes, which had their 
origin in their former governments and have not yet 
been thoroughly removed. It is manifest that these 
causes are daily losing their effect, and that these new 
States are settling down under governments elective 
and representative in every branch, similar to our own. 
In this course we ardently wish them to persevere, un¬ 
der a firm conviction that it will promote their happi¬ 
ness. In this, their career, however, we have not in¬ 
terfered, believing that every people have a right to 
institute for themselves the government which, in their 
judgment, may suit them best. Our example is before 
them, of the good effect of which, being our neighbors, 
they are competent judges, and to their judgment we 
leave it, in expectation that other powers will pursue 
the same policy. The deep interest which we take in 
their independence, which we have acknowledged, and 




MONROE DOCTRINE 


195 


in their enjoyment of all the rights incident thereto, 
especially in the very important one of instituting their 
own governments, has been declared, and is known to 
the World. Separated as we are from Europe by the 
great Atlantic Ocean, we can have no concern in the 
wars of the European governments nor in the causes 
which produce them. The balance of power between 
them, into whichever scale it may turn in its various 
vibrations, can not affect us. It is the interest of the 
United States to preserve the most friendly relations 
with every power and on conditions fair, equal, and 
applicable to all. But in regard to our neighbors our 
situation is different. It is impossible for the European 
governments to interfere in their concerns, especially 
in those alluded to, which are vital, without affecting 
us; indeed, the motive which might induce such inter¬ 
ference in thp present state of the war between the par¬ 
ties, if a war may be called, would appear to be equally 
applicable to us. It is gratifying to know that some of 
the powers with whom we enjoy a very friendly inter¬ 
course, and to whom these views have been communi¬ 
cated, have appeared to acquiesce in them.” 

JAMES MONROE. 


196 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


PRESIDENT TYLER 

Washington, December 30, 1842. 

To the Senate and Plouse of Representatives of the 
United States: 

I communicate herewith to Congress copies of a cor¬ 
respondence which has recently taken place between 
certain agents of the Government of the Hawaiian or 
Sandwich Islands and the Secretary of State. 

The condition of those islands has excited a good 
deal of interest, which is increasing by every succes¬ 
sive proof that their inhabitants are making progress 
in civilization and becoming more and more competent 
to maintain regular and orderly civil government. They 
lie in the Pacific Ocean, much nearer to this continent 
than the other, and have become an important place 
for the refitment and provisioning of American and 
European vessels. 

Owing to their locality and to the course of the winds 
which prevail in this quarter of the World, the Sand¬ 
wich Islands are the stopping place for almost all ves¬ 
sels passing from continent to continent across the Pa¬ 
cific Ocean. They are especially resorted to by the 
great number of vessels of the United States which are 
engaged in the whale fishery in those seas. The num¬ 
ber of vessels of all sorts and the amount of property 
owned by citizens of the United States which are found 
in those islands in the course of the year are stated 
probably with sufficient accuracy in the letter of the 
agents. 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


197 


Just emerging from a state of barbarism, the govern¬ 
ment of the islands is as yet feeble, but its dispositions 
appear to be just and pacific, and it seems anxious to 
improve the condition of its people by the introduction 
of knowledge, of religious and moral institutions, means 
of education, and the arts of civilized life. 

It can not but be in conformity with the interest and 
wishes of the government and the people of the United 
States that this community, thus existing in the midst 
of a vast expanse of ocean, should be respected and all 
its rights strictly and conscientiously regarded; and 
this must also be the true interest of all other commer¬ 
cial states. Far remote from the dominions of Euro¬ 
pean powers, its growth and prosperity as an independ¬ 
ent state may yet be in a high degree useful to all whose 
trade is extended to those regions; while its near ap¬ 
proach to this continent and the intercourse which 
American vessels have with it, such vessels constituting 
five-sixths of all which annually visit it, could not but 
create dissatisfaction on the part of the United States 
at any attempt by another power, should such an at¬ 
tempt be threatened or feared, to take possession of the 
islands, colonize them, and subvert the native govern¬ 
ment. Considering, therefore, that the United States 
possesses so large a share of the intercourse with those 
islands, it is deemed not unfit to make the declaration 
that their government seeks, nevertheless, no peculiar 
advantages, no exclusive control over the Hawaiian 
Government, but is content with its independent exist¬ 
ence and anxiously wishes for its security and pros¬ 
perity. Its forbearance in this respect under the circum¬ 
stances of the very large intercourse of their citizens 
with the islands would justify this government, should 


198 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


events hereafter arise to require it, in making a decided 
remonstrance against the adoption of an opposite policy 
by any other power. Under the circumstances I recom¬ 
mend to Congress to provide for a moderate allowance 
to be made out of the treasury to the consul residing 
there, that in a government so new and a country so 
remote American citizens may have respectable author¬ 
ity to which to apply for redress in case of injury to 
their persons and property, and to whom the govern¬ 
ment of the country may also make known any acts 
committed by American citizens of which it may think 
it has a right to complain. 

JOHN TYLER. 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


199 


PRESIDENT POLK 
Washington, December 2, 1845 

The rapid extension of our settlements over our ter- 
tories heretofore unoccupied, the addition of new States 
to our Confederacy, the expansion of free principles, 
and our rising greatness as a nation are attracting the 
attention of the powers of Europe, and lately the doc¬ 
trine has been broached in some of them of a “balance 
of power” on this continent to check our advancement. 
The United States, sincerely desirous of preserving re¬ 
lations of good understanding with all nations, can not 
in silence permit any European interference on the 
North American continent, and should any such inter¬ 
ference be attempted will be ready to resist it at any and 
all hazards. 

It is well known to the American people and to all na¬ 
tions that this Government has never interfered with 
the relations subsisting between other governments. We 
have never made ourselves parties to their wars or their 
alliances; we have not sought their territories by con¬ 
quest; we have not mingled with parties in their domes¬ 
tic struggles; and believing our own form of govern¬ 
ment to be the best, we have never attempted to propa¬ 
gate it by intrigues, by diplomacy, or by force. We 
may claim on this continent a like exemption from 
European interference. The nations of America are 
equally sovereign and independent with those of Europe. 


200 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


They possess the same rights, independent of all for¬ 
eign interposition, to make war, to conclude peace, and 
to regulate their internal affairs. The people of the 
United States can not, therefore, view with indifference 
attempts of European powers to interfere with the inde¬ 
pendent actions of the nations of this continent. The 
American system of government is entirely different 
from that of Europe. Jealousy among the different sov¬ 
ereigns of Europe, lest any of them might become too 
powerful for the rest, has caused them anxiously to de¬ 
sire the establishment of what they term the “balance 
of power/’ It can not be permitted to have any applica¬ 
tion on the North American continent, and especially to 
the United States. We must ever maintain the prin¬ 
ciple that the people of this continent alone have the 
right to decide their own destiny. Should any portion 
of them, constituting an independent state, propose to 
unite themselves with our Confederacy, this will be a 
question for them and us to determine without any for¬ 
eign interposition. We can never consent that European 
powers shall interfere to prevent such a union because 
it might disturb the “balance of power” which they may 
desire to maintain upon this continent. Near a quarter 
of a century ago the principle was distinctly announced 
to the world, in the annual message of my predecssors, 
that— 

“The American continents, by the free and indepen¬ 
dent condition which they have assumed and main¬ 
tained are henceforth not to be considered as subjects 
for future colonization by any European powers.” 

This principle will apply with greatly increased force 
should any European power attempt to establish any 
new colony in North America. In the existing circum- 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


201 


stances of the world the present is deemed a proper oc¬ 
casion to reiterate and reaffirm the principle avowed 
by Mr. Monroe and to state my cordial concurrence in 
its wisdom and sound policy. The reassertion of this 
principle, especially in reference to North America, is 
at this day but the promulgation of a policy which no 
European power should cherish the disposition to resist. 
Existing rights of every European nation should be re¬ 
spected, but it is due alike to our interests that the effi¬ 
cient protection of our laws should be extended over our 
whole territorial limits, and that it should be distinctly 
announced to the world as our settled policy that no fu¬ 
ture European colony or dominion shall with our con¬ 
sent be planted or established on any part of the North 
American continent. 


JAMES K. POLK. 


202 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


PRESIDENT POLK 
Washington, December 7, 1847 

The cession to the United States by Mexico of the 
Province of New Mexico and the Californias, as pro¬ 
posed by the commissioner of the United States, it was 
believed would be more in accordance with the conven¬ 
ience and interests of both nations than any other ces¬ 
sion of territory which it was probable Mexico could be 
induced to make. 

It is manifest to all who have observed the actual con¬ 
dition of the Mexican Government for some years past 
and at present that if these Provinces should be retained 
by her she could not long continue to hold and govern 
them. Mexico is too feeble a power to govern these 
Provinces, lying as they do at a distance of more than 
1000 miles from her capital, and if attempted to be re¬ 
tained by her they would constitute but for a short time 
even nominally a part of her dominions. This would be 
especially the case with Upper California. 

The sagacity of powerful European nations has long 
since directed their attention to the commercial import¬ 
ance of that Province, and there can be little doubt that 
the moment the United States shall relinquish their 
present occupation of it and their claim to it as indem¬ 
nity an effort would be made by some foreign power to 
possess it, either by conquest or by purchase. If no for¬ 
eign government should acquire it in either of these 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


203 


modes, an independent revolutionary government would 
probably be established by the inhabitants and such for¬ 
eigners as may remain in or remove to the country as 
soon as it shall be known that the United States have 
abandoned it. Such a government would be too feeble 
long to maintain its separate independent existence, and 
would finally become annexed to or be a dependent col¬ 
ony of some more powerful State. 

Should any foreign government attempt to possess 
it as a colony, or otherwise to incorporate it with itself, 
the principle avowed by President Monroe in 1824, and 
reaffirmed in my first annual message, that no foreign 
power shall with our consent be permitted to plant or 
establish any new colony or dominion on any part of 
the North American continent must be maintained. In 
maintaining this principle and in resisting its invasion 
by any foreign power we might be involved in other 
wars more expensive and more difficult than that in 
which we are now engaged. 

JAMES K. POLK. 

Washington, April 29, 1848 

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States: 

I submit for the consideration of Congress several 
communications received at the Department of State 
from Mr. Justo Sierra, commissioner of Yucatan, and 
also a communication from the Governor of that State, 
representing the condition of extreme suffering to 
which their country has been reduced by an insurrec¬ 
tion of the Indians within its limits, and asking the aid 
of the United States. 

These communications present a case of human suf- 


204 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


fering and misery which can not fail to excite the sym¬ 
pathies of all civilized nations. From these and other 
sources of information it appears that the Indians of 
Yucatan are waging a war of extermination against the 
white race. In this civil war they spare neither age nor 
sex, but put to death, indiscriminately, all who fall 
within their power. The inhabitants, panic-stricken and 
destitute of arms, are flying before their savage pur¬ 
suers toward the coast, and their expulsion from their 
country or their extermination would seem to be inev¬ 
itable unless they can obtain assistance from abroad. 

In this condition they have, through their consti¬ 
tuted authorities, implored the aid of this Government 
to save them from destruction, offering in case this 
should be granted to transfer the “dominion of sov¬ 
ereignty of the peninsula” to the United States. Similar 
appeals for aid and protection have been made to the 
Spanish and the English Governments. 

Whilst it is not my purpose to recommend the adop¬ 
tion of any measure with a view to the acquisition of 
the “dominion and sovereignty” over Yucatan, yet, ac¬ 
cording to our established policy, we could not agree to 
a transfer of this “dominion and sovereignty” either to 
Spain, Great Britain, or any other European power. 

Our own security requires that the established policy 
thus announced should guide our conduct, and this ap¬ 
plies with great force to the peninsula of Yucatan. It 
is situated in the Gulf of Mexico, on the North Ameri¬ 
can continent, and, from its vicinity to Cuba, to the 
capes of Florida, to New Orleans, and, indeed, to our 
whole southwestern coast, it would be dangerous to our 
peace and security if it should become a colony of any 
European nation. 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


205 


We have now authentic information that if the aid 
asked from the United States be not granted such aid 
will probably be obtained from some European power, 
which may hereafter assert a claim to “dominion and 
sovereignty” over Yucatan. 

JAMES K. POLK. 

PRESIDENT BUCHANAN 
December 6, 1858 

Our position in relation to the independent States 
south of us on this continent, and especially those 
within the limits of North America, is of a peculiar 
character. The northern boundary of Mexico is coin¬ 
cident with our own southern boundary from ocean to 
ocean, and we must necessarily feel a deep interest in 
all that concerns the well-being and the fate of so near 
a neighbor. We have always cherished the kindest 
wishes for the success of that Republic, and have in¬ 
dulged the hope that it might at last, after all its trials, 
enjoy peace and prosperity under a free and stable gov¬ 
ernment. We have never hitherto interfered, directly 
or indirectly, with its internal affairs, and it is a duty 
which we owe to ourselves to protect the integrity of 
its territory against hostile interference of any other 
power. Our geographical position, our direct interest 
in all that concerns Mexico, and our well-settled policy 
in regard to the North American continent render this 
an indispensable duty. 

JAMES BUCHANAN. 
December 3, 1860 

In addition—and I deem this a most important con- 


206 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


sideration—European Governments would have been 
deprived of all pretext to interfere in the territorial and 
domestic concerns of Mexico. We should thus have been 
relieved from the obligation of resisting, even by force 
should this become necessary, any attempt by these 
Governments to deprive our neighboring Republic of 
portions of her territory—a duty from which we could 
not shrink without abandoning the traditional and es¬ 
tablished policy of the American people. I am happy to 
observe that, firmly relying upon the justice and good 
faith of these Governments, there is no present danger 
that such a contingency will happen. 

JAMES BUCPIANAN. 

PRESIDENT GRANT 
May 31, 1870 

The doctrine promulgated by President Monroe has 
been adhered to by all political parties, and I now deem 
it proper to assert the equally important principle that 
hereafter no territory on this continent shall be regard¬ 
ed as subject of transfer to a European power. 

April 5, 1871 

When I accepted the arduous and responsible posi¬ 
tion which I now hold, I did not dream of instituting 
any steps for the acquisition of insular possessions. I 
believed, however, that our institutions were broad 
enough to extend over the entire continent as rapidly 
as other peoples might desire to bring themselves under 
our protection. I believed further that we should not 
permit any independent government within the limits 
of North America to pass from a condition of indepen- 


MONROE DOCTRINE 207 

dence to one of ownership or protection under a Euro¬ 
pean power. 

Soon after my inauguration as President I was 
waited upon by an agent of President Baez with a prop¬ 
osition to annex the Republic of San Domingo to the 
United States. This gentleman represented the ca¬ 
pacity of the island, the desire of the people, and their 
character and habits about as they have been described 
by the commissioners whose report accompanies this 
message. He stated further that, being weak in num¬ 
bers and poor in purse, they were not capable of devel¬ 
oping their great resources; that the people had no in¬ 
centive to industry on account of lack of protection for 
their accumulations, and that if not accepted by the 
United States—with institutions which they loved 
above those of any other nation—they would be com¬ 
pelled to seek protection elsewhere. To these state¬ 
ments I made no reply and gave no indication of what 
I thought of the proposition. In the course of time I 
was waited upon by a second gentleman from San Do¬ 
mingo, who made the same representations, and who 
was received in like manner. 

In view of the facts which had been laid before me, 
and with an earnest desire to maintain the “Monroe 
Doctrine/’ I believed that I would be derelict in my 
duty if I did not take measures to ascertain the exact 
wish of the Government and inhabitants of the Re¬ 
public of San Domingo in regard to annexation and 
communicate the information to the people of the 
United States. Under the attending circumstances I 
felt that if I turned a deaf ear to this appeal I might in 
the future be justly charged with a flagrant neglect of 
the public interests and an utter disregard of the wel- 


208 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


fare of a down-trodden race praying for the blessings 
of a free and strong government and for protection in 
the enjoyment of the fruits of their own industry. 

ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

SECRETARY OLNEY 
July 20, 1895 

The Monroe Doctrine . . . does not establish any 
general protectorate by the United States over other 
American States. It does not relieve any American 
State from its obligations as fixed by international law 
nor prevent any European power directly interested 
from enforcing such obligations or from inflicting mer¬ 
ited punishment for the breach of them. . . . The 
rule in question has but a single purpose and object. It 
is that no European power or combination of European 
powers shall forcibly deprive an American State of the 
right and power of self-government and of shaping for 
itself its own political fortunes and destinies. . . . 

It is manifest that if a rule has been openly and uni¬ 
formly declared and acted upon by the Executive 
Branch of the Government for more than seventy 
years without express repudiation by Congress, it must 
be conclusively presumed to have its sanction. . . . 
It rests upon facts and principles that are both intelli¬ 
gible and incontrovertible. . . . Europe, as Wash¬ 
ington observed, has a set of primary interests which 
are peculiar to herself. America is not interested in 
them, and ought not to be vexed or complicated with 
them. Each great European power, for instance, today 
maintains enormous armies and fleets in self-defence, 
and for protection against any other European power 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


209 


or powers. What have the United States of America to 
do with that condition of things, or why should they 
be impoverished by wars or preparations for wars with 
whose causes or results they can have no direct con¬ 
cern ? . . . 

The people of the United States have learned in the 
school of experience to what extent the relations of 
States to each other depend not upon sentiment nor 
principle, but upon selfish interest. They will not soon 
forget that in their hour of distress all their anxieties 
and burdens were aggravated by the possibility of dem¬ 
onstrations against their national life on the part of 
powers with whom they had long maintained the most 
harmonious relations. . . . 

Today the United States is practically sovereign on 
this continent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to 
which it confines its interposition. Why? ... It is 
because, in addition to all other grounds, its infinite re¬ 
sources combined with its isolated position render it 
master of the situation and practically invulnerable as 
against any or all other powers. . . . The advantages 
of this superiority are at once imperiled if the principle 
be admitted that European powers may convert Ameri¬ 
can States into colonies or provinces of their own. . . . 

The territory which Great Britain insists shall be 
ceded to her as a condition of arbitrating her claim to 
other territory has never been admitted to belong to 
her. It has always and consistently been claimed by 
Venezuela. Upon what principle—except her feebleness 
as a nation—is she to be denied that right of having 
the claim heard and passed upon by an impartial tri¬ 
bunal? No reason or shadow of reason appears in all 
the voluminous literature of the subject. “It is to be so 


210 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


because I will it to be so” seems to be the only justifica¬ 
tion Great Britain offers. . . . 

In these circumstances, the duty of the President ap¬ 
pears to him unmistakable and imperative. Great Brit¬ 
ain’s assertion of a title to the disputed territory, com¬ 
bined with her refusal to have that title investigated, 
being a substantial appropriation of that territory to 
her own use, not to protest . . . would be to ignore 
an established policy (the Monroe Doctrine) with 
which the honor and welfare of this country are closely 
identified. While the measures necessary or proper for 
the vindication of that policy are to be determined by 
another branch of the Government, it is clearly for the 
Executive to leave nothing undone which may tend to 
render such determination unnecessary. 

You are instructed, therefore, to present the forego¬ 
ing views to Lord Salisbury. . . . They call for a 
definite decision upon the point whether Great Britain 
will consent or will decline to submit the Venezuelan 
boundary question in its entirety to impartial arbitra¬ 
tion. It is the earnest hope of the President that the 
conclusion will be on the side of arbitration. ... If 
he is to be disappointed in that hope, however—a re¬ 
sult not to be anticipated, and in his judgment calcu¬ 
lated to greatly embarrass the future relations between 
this country and Great Britain—it is his wish to be 
made acquainted with the fact at such early date as will 
enable him to lay the whole subject before Congress in 
his next annual message. I am, etc., 

RICHARD OLNEY. 


MONROE DOCTRINE 211 

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND 
November 2, 1895 

It being apparent that the boundary dispute between 
Great Britain and the Republic of Venezuela concern¬ 
ing the limits of British Guiana was approaching an 
acute stage, a definite statement of the interest and pol¬ 
icy of the United States as regards the controversy 
seemed to be required both on its own account and in 
view of its relations with the friendly powers directly 
concerned. In July last, therefore, a dispatch was ad¬ 
dressed to our ambassador at London for communica¬ 
tion to the British Government in which the attitude of 
the United States was fully and distinctly set forth. 
The general conclusions therein reached and formulated 
are in substance that the traditional and established 
policy of this Government is firmly opposed to a forcible 
increase by any European power of its territorial pos¬ 
sessions on this continent; that this policy is well 
founded in principle as it is strongly supported by num¬ 
erous precedents; that as a consequence the United 
States is bound to protest against the enlargement of 
the area of British Guiana in derogation of the rights 
and against the will of Venezuela; that considering the 
disparity in strength of Great Britain and Venezuela 
the territorial dispute between them can be reasonably 
settled only by friendly and impartial arbitration, and 
that the resort to such arbitration should include the 
whole controversy, and is not satisfied if one of the 
powers concerned is permitted to draw an arbitrary 
line through the territory in debate and to declare that 
it will submit to arbitration only the portion lying on 
one side of it. In view of these conclusions, the dispatch 


212 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


in question called upon the British Government for a 
definite answer to the question whether it would or 
would not submit the territorial controversy between 
itself and Venezuela in its entirety to impartial arbitra¬ 
tion. The answer of the British Government has not 
yet been received, but is expected shortly, when further 
communication on the subject will probably be made to 
the Congress. GROVER CLEVELAND. 

Executive Mansion, Dec. 17, 1895. 

To the Congress: 

In my annual message addressed to the Congress on 
the 3rd instant I called attention to the pending bound¬ 
ary controversy between Great Britain and the Republic 
of Venezuela and recited the substance of a representa¬ 
tion made by this Government to Her Britannic Maj¬ 
esty’s Government suggesting reasons why such dis¬ 
pute should be submitted to arbitration for settlement 
and inquiring whether it would be so submitted. 

The answer of the British Government, which was 
then awaited, has since been received, and, together 
with the dispatch to which it is a reply, is hereto ap¬ 
pended. 

Such reply is embodied in two communications ad¬ 
dressed by the British prime minister to Sir Julian 
Pauncefote, the British ambassador at this capital. It 
will be seen that one of these communications is de¬ 
voted exclusively to observations upon the Monroe 
Doctrine, and claims that in the present instance a new 
and strange extension and development of this doctrine 
is insisted on by the United States; that the reasons 
justifying an appeal to the doctrine enunciated by Pres¬ 
ident Monroe are generally inapplicable “to the state of 




MONROE DOCTRINE 


213 


things in which we live at the present day,” and espe¬ 
cially inapplicable to a controversy involving the bound¬ 
ary line between Great Britain and Venezuela. 

Without attempting extended argument in reply to 
these positions, it may not be amiss to suggest that the 
doctrine upon which we stand is strong and sound, be¬ 
cause its enforcement is important to our peace and 
safety as a nation and is essential to the integrity of 
our distinctive form of government. It was intended to 
apply to every stage of our national life and can not 
become obsolete while our Republic endures. If the bal¬ 
ance of power is justly a cause for anxiety among the 
Governments of the Old World and a subject for our 
absolute noninterference, none the less is an observance 
of the Monroe Doctrine of vital concern to our people 
and their Government. 

Assuming, therefore, that we may properly insist 
upon this doctrine without regard to “the state of 
things in which we live” or any changed conditions here 
or elsewhere, it is not apparent why its application may 
not be invoked in the present controversy. 

If a European power by an extension of its bound¬ 
aries takes possession of the territory of one of our 
neighboring Republics against its will and in deroga¬ 
tion of its rights, it is difficult to see why to that extent 
such European power does not thereby attempt to ex¬ 
tend its system of government to that portion of this 
continent which is thus taken. This is the precise ac¬ 
tion which President Monroe declared to be “dangerous 
to our peace and safety,” and it can make no difference 
whether the European system is extended by an ad¬ 
vance of frontier or otherwise. 

It is also suggested in the British reply that we 


214 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

should not seek to apply the Monroe Doctrine to the 
pending dispute because it does not embody any prin¬ 
ciple of international law which “is founded on the gen¬ 
eral consent of nations,” and that “no statesman, how¬ 
ever eminent, and no nation, however powerful, are 
competent to insert into the code of international law a 
novel principle which was never recognized before and 
which has not since been accepted by the government of 
any other country.” 

Practically the principle for which we contend has 
peculiar, if not exclusive, relation to the United States. 
It may not have been admitted in so many words to 
the code of international law, but since in international 
councils every nation is entitled to the rights belonging 
to it, if the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine is 
something we may justly claim it has its place in the 
code of international law as certainly and as securely 
as if it were specifically mentioned; and when the 
United States is a suitor before the high tribunal that 
administers international law the question to be deter¬ 
mined is whether or not we present claims which the 
justice of that code of law can find to be right and 
valid. 

The Monroe Doctrine finds its recognition in those 
principles of international law which are based upon 
the theory that every nation shall have its right pro¬ 
tected and its just claims enforced. 

Of course this Government is entirely confident that 
under the sanction of the doctrine we have clear rights 
and undoubted claims. Nor is this ignored in the British 
reply. The prime minister, while not admitting that the 
Monroe Doctrine is applicable to present conditions, 
states: 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


215 


‘Tn declaring that the United States would resist any 
such enterprise if it was contemplated, President Mon¬ 
roe adopted a policy which received the entire sympathy 
of the English Government of that date/' 

He further declares: 

'Though the language of President Monroe is di¬ 
rected to the attainment of objects which most English¬ 
men would agree to be salutary, it is impossible to ad¬ 
mit that they have been inscribed by any adequate 
authority in the code of international law.” 

Again he says: 

"They (Her Majesty’s Government) fully concur 
with the view that any disturbance of the existing ter¬ 
ritorial distribution in that hemisphere by any fresh ac¬ 
quisitions on the part of any European State would be 
a highly inexpedient change.” 

In the belief that the doctrine for which we contend 
was clear and definite; that it was founded upon sub¬ 
stantial considerations and involved our safety and wel¬ 
fare, that it was fully applicable to our present condi¬ 
tions and to the state of the world’s progress, and that 
it was directly related to the pending controversy, and 
without any conviction as to the final merits of the dis¬ 
pute, but anxious to learn in a satisfactory and con¬ 
clusive manner whether Great Britain sought under a 
claim of boundary to extend her possessions on this 
continent without right, or whether she merely sought 
possession of territory fairly included within her lines 
of ownership, this Government proposed to the Govern¬ 
ment of Great Britain a resort to arbitration as the 
proper means of settling the question, to the end that a 
vexatious boundary dispute between the two contes¬ 
tants might be determined and our exact standing and 




216 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

relation in respect to the controversy might be made 
clear. 

It will be seen from the correspondence herewith sub¬ 
mitted that this proposition has been declined by the 
British Government upon grounds which in the circum¬ 
stances seem to be far from satisfactory. It is deeply 
disappointing that such an appeal, actuated by the most 
friendly feelings toward both nations directly con¬ 
cerned, addressed to the sense of justice and to the 
magnanimity of one of the great powers of the world, 
and touching its relations to one comparatively weak 
and small, should have produced no better results. 

The course to be pursued by this Government in view 
of the present condition does not appear to admit of 
serious doubts. Having labored faithfully for many 
years to induce Great Britain to submit this dispute to 
impartial arbitration, and having been now finally ap¬ 
prised of her refusal to do so, nothing remains but to 
accept the situation, to recognize its plain requirements, 
and deal with it accordingly. Great Britain’s present 
proposition has never thus far been regarded as admis¬ 
sible by Venezuela, though any adjustment of the 
boundary which that country may deem for her ad¬ 
vantage and may enter into of her own free will can 
not of course be objected to by the United States. 

Assuming, however, that the attitude of Venezuela 
will remain unchanged, the dispute has reached such a 
stage as to make it now incumbent upon the United 
States to take measures to determine with certainty for 
its justification what is the true divisional line between 
the Republic of Venezuela and British Guiana. The 
inquiry to that end should of course be conducted care¬ 
fully and judiciously, and due weight should be given 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


217 


to all available evidence, records and facts in support 
of the claims of both parties. 

In order that such an examination should be prose¬ 
cuted in a thorough and satisfactory manner, I suggest 
that the Congress make an adequate appropriation for 
the expenses of a commission, to be appointed by the 
Executive, who shall make the necessary investigation 
and report upon the matter with the least possible de¬ 
lay. When such report is made and accepted it will, in 
my opinion, be the duty of the United States to resist 
by every means in its power, as a willful aggression 
upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by 
Great Britain of any lands or the exercise of govern¬ 
mental jurisdiction over any territory which after in¬ 
vestigation we have determined of right belongs to 
Venezuela. 

In making these recommendations I am fully alive to 
the responsibility incurred and keenly realize all the 
consequences that may follow. 

I am, nevertheless, firm in my conviction that while 
it is a grievous thing to contemplate the two great 
English-speaking peoples of the world as being other¬ 
wise than friendly competitors in the onward march of 
civilization and strenuous and worthy rivals in all the 
arts of peace, there is no calamity which a great nation 
can invite which equals that which follows a supine 
submission to wrong and injustice and the consequent 
loss of national self-respect and honor, beneath which 
are shielded and defended a people’s safety and great¬ 
ness. GROVER CLEVELAND. 


218 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT 
December 3, 1901 

The Monroe Doctrine should be the cardinal feature 
of the foreign policy of all the nations of the two Amer¬ 
icas, as it is of the United States. Just seventy-eight 
years have passed since President Monroe in his annual 
message announced that “The American continents are 
henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future 
colonization by any European power.” In other words, 
the Monroe Doctrine is a declaration that there must be 
no territorial aggrandizement by any non-American 
power at the expense of any American power on Amer¬ 
ican soil. It is in nowise intended as hostile to any na¬ 
tion in the Old World. Still less is it intended to give 
cover to any aggression by one New World power at 
the expense of any other. It is simply a step, and a 
long step, toward assuring the universal peace of the 
world by securing the possibility of permanent peace 
on this hemisphere. During the past century other in¬ 
fluences have established the permanence and independ¬ 
ence of the smaller states of Europe. Through the 
Monroe Doctrine we hope to be able to safeguard like 
independence and secure like permanence for the lesser 
among the New World nations. 

The doctrine has nothing to do with the commercial 
relations of any American power, save that it in truth 
allows each of them to form such as it desires. In other 
words, it is really a guaranty of the commercial inde¬ 
pendence of the Americas. We do not ask under this 
doctrine for any exclusive commercial dealings with 
any other American State. We do not guarantee any 
State against punishment if it misconducts itself, pro- 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


219 


vided that punishment does not take the form of the 
acquisition of territory by any non-American power. 

Our attitude in Cuba is a sufficient guaranty of our 
own good faith. We have not the slightest desire to 
secure any territory at the expense of any of our neigh¬ 
bors. We wish to work with them hand in hand, so that 
all of us may be uplifted together, and we rejoice over 
the good fortune of any of them, we gladly hail their 
material prosperity and political stability, and are con¬ 
cerned and alarmed if any of them fall into industrial 
or political chaos. We do not wish to see any Old 
World military power grow up on this continent, or to 
be compelled to become a military power ourselves. 
The people of the Americas can prosper best if left to 
work out their own salvation in their own way. 

Our people intend to abide by the Monroe Doctrine 
and insist upon it as the one sure means of securing 
the peace of the Western Hemisphere. The Navy offers 
us the only means of making our insistence upon the 
Monroe Doctrine anything but a subject of derision 
to whatever nation chooses to disregard it. We desire 
the peace which comes as of right to the just man 
armed; not the peace granted on terms of ignominy to 
the craven and the weakling. 

December 5, 1905 

I have dwelt much on the dangers to be avoided by 
steering clear of any more foolish sentimentality be¬ 
cause my wish for peace is so genuine and earnest; be¬ 
cause I have a real and great desire that this second 
Hague conference may mark a long stride forward in 
the direction of securing the peace of justice through¬ 
out the world. No object is better worthy the attention 


220 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


of enlightened statesmanship than the establishment of 
a surer method than now exists of securing justice as 
between nations, both for the protection of the little na¬ 
tions and for the prevention of war between the big 
nations. To this aim we should endeavor not only to 
avert bloodshed, but, above all, effectively to strengthen 
the forces of right. The Golden Rule should be, and as 
the World grows in morality it will be, the guiding rule 
of conduct among nations as among individuals; though 
the Golden Rule must not be construed, in fantastic 
manner, as forbidding the exercise of the police power. 
This mighty and free republic should ever deal with all 
other States, great or small, on a basis of high honor, 
respecting their rights as jealously as it safeguards its 
own. 

One of the most effective instruments for peace is the 
Monroe Doctrine as it has been and is being gradually 
developed by this Nation and accepted by other nations. 
No other policy could have been as efficient in promot¬ 
ing peace in the Western Hemisphere and in giving to 
each nation thereon the chance to develop along its 
own lines. If we had refused to apply the doctrine to 
changing conditions it would now be completely out¬ 
worn, would not meet any of the needs of the present 
day, and, indeed, would probably by this time have sunk 
into complete oblivion. It is useful at home, and is meet¬ 
ing with recognition abroad because we have adapted 
our application of it to meet the growing and changing 
needs of the hemisphere. When we announce a policy 
such as the Monroe Doctrine we thereby commit our¬ 
selves to the consequences of the policy, and those con¬ 
sequences from time to time alter. It is out of the ques¬ 
tion to claim a right and yet shirk the responsibility for 



MONROE DOCTRINE 


221 


its exercise. Not only we, but all American republics 
who are benefited by the existence of the doctrine, must 
recognize the obligations each nation is under as re¬ 
gards foreign peoples no less than its duty to insist 
upon its own rights. 

That our rights and interests are deeply concerned in 
the maintenance of the doctrine is so clear as hardly to 
need argument. This is especially true in view of the 
construction of the Panama Canal. As a mere matter 
of self-defense we must exercise a close watch over the 
approaches to this canal; and this means that we must 
be thoroughly alive to our interests in the Caribbean 
Sea. 

There are certain essential points which must never 
be forgotten as regards the Monroe Doctrine. In the 
first place we must as a nation make it evident that we 
do not intend to treat it in any shape or way as an ex¬ 
cuse for aggrandizement on our part at the expense of 
the republics to the south. We must recognize the fact 
that in some South American countries there has been 
much suspicion lest we should interpret the Monroe 
Doctrine as in some way inimical to their interests, and 
we must try to convince all the other nations of this 
continent once and for all that no just and orderly 
government has anything to fear from us. There are 
certain republics to the south of us which have already 
reached such a point of stability, order and prosperity 
that they themselvves, though as yet hardly consciously, 
are among the guarantors of this doctrine. These re¬ 
publics we now meet not only on a basis of entire equal¬ 
ity, but in a spirit of frank and respectful friendship, 
which we hope is mutual. If all of the republics to the 
south of us will only grow as those to which I allude 


222 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


have steadily grown, all need for us to be the especial 
champions of the doctrine will disappear, for no stable 
and growing republic wishes to see some, great non- 
American military power acquire territory in its neigh¬ 
borhood. All that this country desires is that the other 
republics on this continent shall be happy and prosper¬ 
ous; and they cannot be happy and prosperous unless 
they maintain order within their boundaries and be¬ 
have with a just regard for their obligations toward 
outsiders. It must be understood that under no circum¬ 
stances will the United States use the Monroe Doctrine 
as a cloak for territorial aggression. We desire peace 
with the World, but perhaps most of all with the other 
peoples of the American Continent. There are, of 
course, limits to the wrongs which any self-respecting 
nation can endure. It is always possible that wrong 
actions toward this Nation, or toward citizens of this 
Nation, in some State unable to keep order among its 
own people, unable to secure justice from outsiders, and 
unwilling to do justice to those outsiders who treat it 
well, may result in our having to take action to protect 
our rights; but such action will not be taken with a 
view to territorial aggression, and it will be taken at all 
only with extreme reluctance and when it has become 
evident that every other resource has been exhausted. 

Moreover, we must make it evident that we do not 
intend to permit the Monroe Doctrine to be used by any 
nation on this continent as a shield to protect it from 
the consequences of its own misdeeds against foreign 
nations. If a republic to the South of us commits a tort 
against a foreign nation, such as an outrage against a 
citizen of that nation, then the Monroe Doctrine does 
not force us to interfere to prevent punishment of the 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


223 


tort, save to see that the punishment does not assume 
the form of territorial occupation in any shape. The 
case is more difficult when it refers to a contractual 
obligation. Our own government has always refused 
to enforce such contractual obligations on behalf of its 
citizens by an appeal to arms. It is much to be wished 
that all foreign governments would take the same view. 
But they do not; and in consequence we are liable at 
any time to be brought face to face with disagreeable 
alternatives. On the one hand, this country would cer¬ 
tainly decline to go to war to prevent a foreign govern¬ 
ment from collecting a just debt; on the other hand, it 
is very inadvisable to permit any foreign power to take 
possession, even temporarily, of the custom houses of 
an American republic in order to enforce the payment 
of its obligations; for such temporary occupation might 
turn into a permanent occupation. The only escape from 
these alternatives may at any time be that we must our¬ 
selves undertake to bring about some arrangement by 
which so much as possible of a just obligation shall be 
paid. It is far better that this country should put 
through such an arrangement, rather than allow any 
foreign country to undertake it. To do so insures the 
defaulting republic from having to pay debts of an im¬ 
proper character under duress, while it also insures 
honest creditors of the republic from being passed by 
in the interest of dishonest or grasping creditors. More¬ 
over, for the United States to take such a position offers 
the only possible way of insuring us against a clash 
with some foreign power. The position is, therefore, in 
the interest of peace as well as in the interest of justice. 
It is of benefit to our people; it is of benefit to foreign 


224 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


peoples; and most of all, it is realty of benefit to the 
people of the country concerned. 

This brings me to what should he one of the funda¬ 
mental objects of the Monroe Doctrine. We must our¬ 
selves in good faith try to help upward toward peace 
and order those of our sister republics which need such 
help. Just as there has been a gradual growth of the 
ethical element in the relations of the individual to an¬ 
other, so we are, even though slowly, more and more 
coming to recognize the duty of bearing one another’s 
burdens, not only as among individuals, but also as 
among nations. 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 

THE PRESENT POSITION OF THE UNITED 
STATES ON THE MONROE DOCTRINE 

By Charles E. Plughes, 

as reported in the newspapers November 30, 1923 
“The doctrine is a principle of exclusion. Both with 
reference to the doctrine of non-intervention and to that 
as to the extension of territorial control, it aims directly 
at the exclusion of interposition by non-American pow¬ 
ers. . . . The principle of exclusion embodies a pol¬ 
icy of self-defense on the part of the United States; it 
is a policy set up and applied by the United States. . . . 

We entered the great war, not violating our tradi¬ 
tion, for the cause of liberty itself was at stake. We 
have emerged from the war with the same general aims 
that we had before we went in. Though victors, we 
have sought neither territory nor general reparations. 
Our people have borne their own burdens and in large 
part we are bearing the burdens of others. 

We are not seeking to dictate to Europe nor to de- 


MONROE DOCTRINE 225 

prive anyone of rights. But we do desire peace and eco¬ 
nomic recuperation in Europe. 

We contributed our arms in the interest of liberty 
and to destroy the menace of an autocratic power, but 
not to secure the economic prostration of a vanquished 
people. . . . We wish to see the fires of hatred 
quenched. 

It is because of these earnest desires that we have 
hoped, as was stated in the recent communication to the 
British government, that the solution of the present 
grave problems would be sought in fair and comprehen¬ 
sive inquiry. 

The bitter controversy which followed the war 
showed with what tenacity we still hold to the principle 
of not meddling in the political strife of Europe. It is 
true that the spread of democratic ideas and the result¬ 
ing change in governments have removed the danger of 
organized effort to extend to this continent the Euro¬ 
pean’s political system of one hundred years ago. But 
Europe still has a‘set of primary interests’ which are 
not ours. Unity in war did not avail to change the di¬ 
vergent national aims and policies in peace. 

“it is not that our interests may not be affected in¬ 
juriously by such controversies. That was true in the 
days of Washington, Jefferson and Monroe. But it 
was, despite such injuries, the abiding conviction that 
we had better bear these ills than suffer the greater 
evils which would follow the sacrifice of our indepen¬ 
dent position. We still hold to that view. 

The preponderant thought among us undoubtedly is 
that our influence would not be increased by pooling it. 
The influence that is due to our detachment and impar¬ 
tiality could not long be maintained if we should sub- 


226 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


stitute the role of a partisan in European quarrels. But 
when all is said, there is still no doubt of our desire to 
be helpful in every practicable way consistent with our 
independence and general aims. 

Generally our policies toward Europe may thus be 
summarized: We are still opposed to alliances. We re¬ 
fuse to commit ourselves in advance with respect to the 
employment of the power of the United States in un¬ 
known contingencies. We reserve our judgment to act 
upon occasion as our sense of duty permits. We are 
opposed to discriminations against our nationals. We 
ask fair and equal opportunities in mandated territories 
as they were required by the allies through our aid. We 
desire to co-operate according to our historic policy in 
the peaceful settlement of international disputes which 
embraces the policy of judicial settlement of such ques¬ 
tions as are justifiable. It is our purpose to co-operate 
in those varied humanitarian efforts which aim to min¬ 
imize or prevent those evils which can be met ade¬ 
quately only by community of action. 

“In short, our co-operation in the furtherance of the 
aims of peace and justice has always been and still is a 
distinctive feature of our policy. 

“There is plainly no inconsistence between these poli¬ 
cies and the Monroe Doctrine. Our position as a world 
power has not affected it. The question is whether that 
doctrine is still important under changed conditions. 
The answer must be in the affirmative. 

So far as the Pacific and the Far East are concerned, 
the United States has developed the policies of (1) The 
Open Door; (2) The maintenance of the integrity of 
China; (3) Co-operation with other powers in the dec¬ 
laration of common principles; (4) Co-operation with 


MONROE DOCTRINE 


227 


other powers by conference and consultation in the in¬ 
terests of peace; (5) Limitation of naval armament; 
and (6) The limitation of fortifications and naval bases. 
These are entirely consistent with the policy of Mon¬ 
roe.” 

Secretary Hughes states that there are nine “affirma¬ 
tive policies’’ of the United States that are a “fitting 
complement” to the Monroe Doctrine. Stated by Mr. 
Hughes, they are: 

First—“We recognize the equity of the American re¬ 
publics and their equal rights under the law of nations.” 

Second—“We have no policy of aggression; we do 
not support aggression by others; we are opposed to 
aggression by any one of the Latin-American republics 
upon any other.” 

Third—“States have duties as well as rights. . . . 
Among these obligations is the duty of each state to re¬ 
spect the rights of citizens of other states. ... A 
confiscatory policy strikes at the foundations of inter¬ 
national intercourse.” 

Fourth—“It is the policy of this government to make 
available its friendly assistance to promote stability in 
those of our sister republics which are especially afflict¬ 
ed with disturbed conditions involving their own peace 
and that of their neighbors. ... We are not aiming 
at control but endeavoring to establish self-control. We 
are not seeking to add to our territory or to impose our 
rule upon other peoples.” 

Fifth—“With respect to the Latin-American repub¬ 
lics, it is our policy not only to seek to adjust any dif¬ 
ferences that may arise in our own intercourse, but 
. . . to extend our good offices to the end that any 
controversy may be amicably composed.” 


228 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Sixth—“This government has sought to encourage 
the making of agreements for limitation of arma¬ 
ments.^ 

Seventh—“The policies which have been described 
are not to secure peace as an end in itself, but . . . 
to open the way to a mutually helpful co-operation.” 

Eighth—“The United States is seeking . . . ‘most 
favored nation’ treatment in customs matters.” 

Ninth—Mr. Hughes states that there are “special 
policies of highest importance to the United States.” 

“We have established a waterway between the At¬ 
lantic and Pacific oceans—the Panama Canal. Apart 
from obvious commercial considerations the adequate 
protection of this canal—its complete immunity from 
any adverse control—is essential to our peace and se¬ 
curity. We intend in all circumstances to safeguard the 
Panama Canal. We could not afford to take any dif¬ 
ferent attitude with respect to any other waterways 
that may be built between the Atlantic and Pacific 
oceans. Disturbances in the Caribbean region are there¬ 
fore of special interest to us, not for the purpose of 
seeking control over others, but of being assured that 
our safety is free from menace.” 

“With respect to Cuba, we have the special interests 
arising from our treaty and our part in the securing of 
her independence. It is not our desire to see her inde¬ 
pendence weakened, but safeguarded and her stability 
and prosperity assured. Our friendly advice and aid 
are always available to that end.” 


LINCOLN 229 

LINCOLN AND THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD 
REVERENCE FOR THE LAWS* 
Abraham Lincoln 

Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every 
American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on 
her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries and 
colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling books and 
almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, pro¬ 
claimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of 
justice. And, in short, let it become the political re¬ 
ligion of the nation; and let the old and the young, 
the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes 
and tongues and colors and conditions sacrifice unceas¬ 
ingly upon its altars. 

*Written in Lincoln’s boyhood. 

For additional Lincoln Selections read the following: 

The Perfect Tribute—Andrews; 

The Name of Lincoln—Susie Best; 

Lincoln a Typical American—Phillips Brooks; 

Abraham Lincoln—Bryant; 

Lincoln—Paul Dunbar; 

Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight—Lindsay; 

Sayings of Lincoln—Lomprey; 

Young Lincoln—Markham; 

He’d See It Through—Olive Wood Taylor; 

Abraham Lincoln—Tom Taylor; 

O Captain, My Captain—Walt Whitman; 

Letter to Mrs. Bixby—Lincoln; 

The Death of Lincoln—Bryant; 

Lincoln—Lowell. 



230 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


FROM LINCOLN’S "HOUSE DIVIDED” 
SPEECH* 

If we could first know where we are, and whither we 
are trending, we could better judge what to do, and 
how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year since 
a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and con¬ 
fident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. 
Under the operation of that policy, that agitation not 
only has not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In 
my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have 
been reached and passed. "A house divided against it¬ 
self can not stand.” I believe this government cannot 
endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not 
expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the 
house to fall; but I do expect that it will cease to be 
divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. 
Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further 
spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall 
rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate 
extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it 
shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as 
new, North as well as South. 

♦This speech was delivered June 16, 1858, at the Springfield Con¬ 
vention where Lincoln was nominated for the United States Senate 
to oppose Stephen A. Douglas in the approaching election. Lincoln 
was advised by his political friends to leave this out of his speeches, 
but he is reported by Herndon as replying: “Friends, this thing 
has been retarded long enough. The time has come when these 
sentiments should be uttered, and, if it is decreed that I should go 
down because of this speech, then let me go down linked to the 
truth—let me die in the advocacy of what is just and right.” 



LINCOLN 231 

SLAVERY AS THE FATHERS VIEWED IT 

Address at Cooper Union, New York 
February 27, 1860 

Mr. President and Fellow-citizens of New York: 

The facts with which I shall deal this evening are 
mainly old and familiar; nor is there anything new in 
the general use I shall make of them. If there shall he 
any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting the 
facts, and the inferences and observations following 
that presentation. In his speech last autumn at Colum¬ 
bus, Ohio, as reported in the New York Times, Sen¬ 
ator Douglas said: “Our fathers, when they framed 
the government under which we live, understood this 
question just as well, and even better, than we do now.” 

I fully endorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this 
discourse. I so adopt it because it furnished a precise 
and an agreed starting-point for a discussion between 
Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed 
by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the inquiry: 
“What was the understanding those fathers had of the 
question mentioned? 

What is the frame of government under which we 
live? The answer must be, “The Constitution of the 
United States.” That Constitution consists of the orig¬ 
inal, framed in 1787, and under which the present gov¬ 
ernment first went into operation, and twelve subse¬ 
quently framed amendments, the first ten of which were 
framed in 1789. 

Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? 
I suppose the “thirty-nine” who signed the original in¬ 
strument may be fairly called our fathers who framed 
that part of the present government. It is almost ex- 


232 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


actly true to say they framed it, and it is altogether 
true to say they fairly represented the opinion and sen¬ 
timent of the whole nation at that time. Their names, 
being familiar to nearly all, and accessible to quite all, 
need not now be repeated. 

I take these “thirty-nine,” for the present, as being 
“our fathers who framed the government under which 
we live.” What is the question which, according to the 
text, those fathers understood “just as well, and even 
better, than we do now?” 

It is this: Does the proper division of local from 
Federal authority, or anything in the Constitution, for¬ 
bid our Federal Government to control as to slavery in 
our Federal Territories? 

Upon this, Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, 
and Republicans the negative. This affirmation arid de¬ 
nial form an issue; and this issue—this question—is 
precisely what the text declares our fathers understood 
“better than we.” Let us now inquire whether the “thir¬ 
ty-nine,” or any of them, ever acted upon this question; 
and if they did, how they acted upon it—how they ex¬ 
pressed that better understanding. In 1784, three years 
before the Constitution, the United States then owning 
the Northwestern Territory, and no other, the Con¬ 
gress of the Confederation had before them the ques¬ 
tion of prohibiting slavery in that Territory; and four 
of the “thirty-nine” who afterward framed the Con¬ 
stitution were in that Congress, and voted on that ques¬ 
tion. Of these, Roger Sherman, Thomas Mifflin, and 
Hugh Williamson voted for the prohibition, thus show¬ 
ing that, in their understanding, no line dividing local 
from Federal authority, nor anything else, properly for¬ 
bade the Federal Government to control as to slavery 


LINCOLN 


233 


in Federal territory. The other of the four, James Mc¬ 
Henry, voted against the prohibition, showing that for 
some cause he thought it improper to vote for it. 

In 1787, still before the Constitution, but while the 
convention was in session framing it, and while the 
Northwestern Territory still was the only Territory 
owned by the United States, the same question of pro¬ 
hibiting slavery in the Territory again came before 
the Congress of the Confederation; and two more of 
the “thirty-nine” who afterward signed the Constitu¬ 
tion were in that Congress, and voted on the question. 
They were William Blount and William Few; and 
they both voted for the prohibition—thus showing that 
in their understanding no line dividing local from Fed¬ 
eral authority, nor anything else, properly forbade the 
Federal Government to control as to slavery in Fed¬ 
eral territory. This time the prohibition became a law, 
being part of what is now well known as the ordi- 
ance of ’87. 

The question of Federal control of slavery in the Ter¬ 
ritories seems not to have been directly before the con¬ 
vention which framed the original Constitution; and 
hence it is not recorded that the “thirty-nine,” or any 
of them, while engaged on that instrument, expressed 
any opinion on that precise question. 

In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the 
Constitution, an act was passed to enforce the ordinance 
of ’87, including the prohibition of slavery in the North¬ 
western Territory. The bill for this act was reported 
by one of the “thirty-nine” — Thomas Fitzsimmons, 
then a member of the House of Representatives from 
Pennsylvania. It went through all its stages without a 
word of opposition, and finally passed both branches 


234 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


without ayes and nays, which is equivalent to a unani¬ 
mous passage. In this Congress there were sixteen of 
the thirty-nine fathers who framed the original Con¬ 
stitution. They were John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, 
Wm. S. Johnson, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Thos. 
Fitzsimmons, William Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus 
King, William Paterson, George Clymer, Richard Bas¬ 
sett, George Read, Pierce Butler, Daniel Carroll, and 
James Madison. 

This shows that, in their understanding, no line di¬ 
viding local from Federal authority, nor anything in 
the Constitution, properly forbade Congress to prohibit 
slavery in the Federal territory; else both their fidelity 
to correct principle, and their oath to support the Con¬ 
stitution, would have constrained them to oppose the 
prohibition. 

Again, George Washington, another of the “thirty- 
nine,'” was then President of the United States, and as 
such approved and signed the bill, thus completing its 
validity as a law, and thus showing that, in his under¬ 
standing, no line dividing local from Federal authority, 
nor anything in the Constitution, forbade the Federal 
Government to control as to slavery in Federal terri¬ 
tory. 

No great while after the adoption of the original 
Constitution, North Carolina ceded to the Federal Gov¬ 
ernment the country now constituting the State of Ten¬ 
nessee; and a few years later Georgia ceded that which 
now constitutes the States of Mississippi and Alabama, 
In both deeds of cession it was made a condition by the 
ceding States that the Federal Government should not 
prohibit slavery in the ceded country. Besides this, 
slavery was then actually in the ceded country. Under 


LINCOLN 


235 


these circumstances, Congress, on taking charge of 
these countries, did not absolutely prohibit slavery 
within them. But they did interfere with it—take con¬ 
trol of it—even there, to a certain extent. In 1798 Con¬ 
gress organized the Territory of Mississippi. In the 
act of organization they prohibited the bringing of 
slaves into the Territory from any place without the 
United States, by fine, and giving freedom to slaves so 
brought. This act passed both branches of Congress 
without ayes and nays. In that Congress were three 
of the “thirty-nine” who framed the original Constitu¬ 
tion. They wer<? John Langdon, George Read, and 
Abraham Baldwin. They all probably voted for it. Cer¬ 
tainly they would have placed their opposition to it 
upon record if, in their understanding, any line divid¬ 
ing. local from Federal authority, or anything in the 
Constitution, properly forbade the Federal Govern¬ 
ment to control as to slavery in Federal territory. 

In 1803 the Federal Government purchased the Lou¬ 
isiana country. Our former territorial acquisitions 
came from certain of our own States; but this Louisi¬ 
ana country was acquired from a foreign nation. In 
1804 Congress gave a territorial organization to that 
part of it which now constitutes the State of Louisiana. 
New Orleans, lying within that part, was an old and 
comparatively large city. There were other consider¬ 
able towns and settlements, and slavery was extensively 
and thoroughly intermingled with the people. Congress 
did not, in the Territorial Act, prohibit slavery; but 
they did interfere with it—take control of it—in a more 
marked and extensive way than they did in the case of 
Mississippi. The substance of the provision therein 
made in relation to slaves was: 


236 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


1st. That no slave should be imported into the Ter¬ 
ritory from foreign parts. 

2nd. That no slave should be carried into it who had 
been imported into the United States since the first day 
of May, 1798. 

3d. That no slave should be carried into it, except 
by the owner, and for his own use as a settler; the pen¬ 
alty in all the cases being a fine upon the violator of the 
law, and freedom to the slave. 

This act also was passed without ayes or nays. In 
the Congress which passed it there were two of the 
“thirty-nine.” They were Abraham Baldwin and Jon¬ 
athan Dayton. As stated in the case of Mississippi, 
it is probable they both voted for it. They would not 
have allowed it to pass without recording their oppo¬ 
sition to it if, in their understanding, it violated either 
the line properly dividing local from Federal authority, 
or any provision of the Constitution. 

In 1819-20 came and passed the Missouri question. 
Many votes were taken, by yeas and nays, in both 
branches of Congress, upon the various phases of the 
general question. Two of the “thirty-nine”—Rufus 
King and Charles Pinckney—were members of that 
Congress. Mr. King steadily voted for slavery prohi¬ 
bition and against all compromises, while Mr. Pinck¬ 
ney as steadily voted against slavery prohibition and 
against all compromises. By this, Mr. King showed 
that, in his understanding, no line dividing local from 
Federal authority, nor anything in the Constitution, 
was violated by Congress prohibiting slavery in Fed¬ 
eral territory; while Mr. Pinckney, by his votes, show¬ 
ed that, in his understanding, there was some sufficient 
reason for opposing such prohibition in that case. 


LINCOLN 


237 


The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the 
‘‘thirty-nine/’ or any of them, upon the direct issue, 
which I have been able to discover. 

To enumerate the persons who thus acted as being 
four in 1784, two in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 
1798, two in 1804, and two in 1819-20, there would 
be thirty of them. But this would be counting John 
Langdon, Roger Sherman, William Few, Rufus King, 
and George Read each twice, and Abraham Baldwin 
three times. The true number of those of the "thirty- 
nine” whom I have shown to have acted upon the ques¬ 
tion which, by the text, they understood better than we, 
is twenty-three, leaving sixteen not shown to have acted 
upon it in any way. 

Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our thirty- 
nine fathers "who framed the government under which 
we live,” who have, upon their official responsibility 
and their corporal oaths, acted upon the very ques¬ 
tion which the text affirms they "understood just as 
well, and even better, than we do now”; and twenty- 
one of them—a clear majority of the whole "thirty- 
nine”—so acting upon it as to make them guilty of 
gross political impropriety and wilful perjury if, in 
their understanding, any proper division between local 
and Federal authority, or anything in the Constitution 
they had made themselves, and sworn to support, for¬ 
bade the Federal Government to control as to slavery 
in the Federal Territories. Thus the twenty-one acted; 
and, as actions speak louder than words, so actions 
under such responsibility speak still louder. 

Two of the twenty-three voted against congressional 
prohibition of slavery in the Federal Territories, in the 
instances in which they acted upon the question. But 


238 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


for what reasons they so voted is not known. They 
may have done so because they thought a proper div¬ 
ision of local from Federal authority, or some provis¬ 
ion or principle of the Constitution, stood in the way; 
or they may, without any such question, have voted 
against the prohibition on what appeared to them to 
be sufficient grounds of expediency. No one who has 
sworn to support the Constitution can conscientiously 
vote for what he understands to be an unconstitutional 
measure, however expedient he may think it; but one 
may and ought to vote against a measure which he 
deems unconstitutional if, at the same time, he deems 
it inexpedient. It, therefore, would be unsafe to set 
down even the two who voted against the prohibition 
as having done so because, in their understanding, any 
proper division of local from Federal authority, or any¬ 
thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Govern¬ 
ment to control as to slavery in Federal territory. 

The remaining sixteen of the “thirty-nine”, so far 
as I have discovered, have left no record of their un¬ 
derstanding upon the direct question of Federal control 
of slavery in the Federal Territories. But there is much 
reason to believe that their understanding upon that 
question would not have appeared different from that 
of their twenty-three compeers, had it been manifested 
at all. 

For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I 
have purposely omitted whatever understanding may 
have been manifested by any person, however distin¬ 
guished, other than the thirty-nine fathers who framed 
the original Constitution; and, for the same reason, I 
have also omitted whatever understanding may have 
been manifested by any of the “thirty-nine” even on 


LINCOLN 


239 


any other phase of the general question of slavery. If 
we should look into their acts and declarations on those 
other phases, as the foreign slave-trade, and the moral¬ 
ity and policy of slavery generally, it would appear to 
us that on the direct question of Federal control of slav¬ 
ery in Federal Territories, the sixteen, if they had acted 
at all, would probably have acted just as the twenty- 
three did. Among the sixteen were several of the most 
noted antislavery men of those times,—as Dr. Franklin, 
Alexander Hamilton, and Gouverneur Morris,—while 
there was not one now known to have been otherwise, 
unless it may be John Rutledge, of South Carolina. 

The sum of the whole is that of our thirty-nine fath¬ 
ers who framed the original Constitution, twenty-one—• 
a clear majority of the whole—certaintly understood 
that no proper division of local from Federal authority, 
nor any part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal 
Government to control slavery in the Federal Terri¬ 
tories ; while all the rest had probably the same under¬ 
standing. Such, unquestionably, was the understand¬ 
ing of our fathers who framed the original Constitu¬ 
tion; and the text affirms that they understood the 
question "better than we.” 

But, so far, I have been considering the understand¬ 
ing of the question manifested by the framers of the 
original Constitution. In and by the original instru¬ 
ment, a mode was provided for amending it; and, as 
I have already stated, the present frame of "the gov¬ 
ernment under which we live” consists of that original, 
and twelve amendatory articles framed and adopted 
since. Those who now insist that Federal control of 
slavery in Federal Territories violates the Constitution, 
point us to the provisions which they suppose it thus 


240 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


violates; and, as I understand, they all fix upon pro¬ 
visions in these amendatory articles, and not in the 
original instrument. The Supreme Court, in the Dred 
Scott case, plant themselves upon the fifth amendment, 
which provides that no person shall be deprived of “life, 
liberty, or property without due process of law”; while 
Senator Douglas and his peculiar adherents plant them¬ 
selves upon the tenth amendment, providing that “the 
powers not delegated to the United States by the Con¬ 
stitution” “are reserved to the States respectively, or 
to the people.” 

Now, it so happens that these amendments were 
framed by the first Congress which sat under the Con¬ 
stitution—the identical Congress which passed the act, 
already mentioned, enforcing the prohibition of slavery 
in the Northwestern Territory. Not only was it the 
same Congress, but they were the identical, same indi¬ 
vidual men who, at the same session, and at the same 
time within the session, had under consideration, and in 
progress toward maturity, these constiutitional amend¬ 
ments, and this act prohibiting slavery in all the terri¬ 
tory the nation then owned. The constitutional amend¬ 
ments were introduced before, and passed after, the act 
enforcing the ordinance of ’ 87 ; so that, during the 
whole pendency of the act to enforce the ordinance, the 
constitutional amendments were also pending. 

The seventy-six members of that Congress, includ¬ 
ing sixteen of the framers of the original Constitution, 
as before stated, were pre-eminently our fathers who 
framed that part of “the government under which we 
live” which is now claimed as forbidding the Fed¬ 
eral Government to control slavery in the Federal Ter¬ 
ritories. 


LINCOLN 


241 


Is it not a little presumptuous in any one at this day 
to affirm that the two things which that Congress de¬ 
liberately framed, and carried to maturity at the same 
time, are absolutely inconsistent with each other? And 
does not such affirmation become impudently absurd 
when coupled with the other affirmation, from the same 
mouth, that those who did the two things alleged to 
be inconsistent, understood whether they really were 
inconsistent better than we—better than he who affirms 
that they are inconsistent? 

It is surely safe to assume that the thirty-nine fram¬ 
ers of the original Constitution, and the seventy-six 
members of the Congress which framed the amend¬ 
ments thereto, taken together, do certainly include those 
who may be fairly called “our fathers who framed the 
government under which we live.” And so assuming, 
1 defy any man to show that any one of them ever, in 
his whole life, declared that, in his understanding, any 
proper division of local from Federal authority, or any 
part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Govern¬ 
ment to control as to slavery in the Federal Territories. 
I go a step further. I defy any one to show that any 
living man in the whole world ever did, prior to the 
beginning of the present century (and I might almost 
say prior to the beginning of the last half of the pres¬ 
ent century), declare that, in his understanding, any 
proper division of local from Federal authority, or any 
part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Govern¬ 
ment to control as to slavery in the Federal Territories. 
To those who now so declare I give not only “our fath¬ 
ers who framed the government under which we live,” 
but with them all other living men within the century 
in which it was framed, among whom to search, and 


242 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


they shall not be able to find the evidence of a single 
man agreeing with them. 

Now, and here, let me guard a little against being 
understood. I do not mean to say we are bound to 
follow implicitly in whatever our fathers did. To do 
so would be to discard all the lights of current expe¬ 
rience—to reject all progress, all improvement. What 
I do say is that if we would supplant the opinions and 
policy of our fathers in any case, we should do so upon 
evidence so conclusive, and argument so clear, that even 
their great authority, fairly considered and weighed, 
cannot stand; and most surely not in a case whereof 
we ourselves declare they understood the question bet¬ 
ter than we. 

If any man at this day sincerely believes that a proper 
division of local from Federal authority, or any part of 
the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to 
control as to slavery in the Federal Territories, he is 
right to say so, and to enforce his position by all truth¬ 
ful evidence and fair argument which he can. But he 
has no right to mislead others who have less access to 
history, and less leisure to study it, into the false belief 
that “our fathers who framed the government under 
which we live” were of the same opinion—thus sub¬ 
stituting falsehood and deception for truthful evidence 
and fair argument. If any man at this day sincerely 
believes “our fathers who framed the government un¬ 
der which we live” used and applied principles, in other 
cases, which ought to have led them to understand that 
a proper division of local from Federal authority, or 
some part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Gov¬ 
ernment to control as to slavery in the Federal Ter¬ 
ritories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the 


LINCOLN 


243 


same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, 
in his opinion, he understands their principles better 
than they did themselves; and especially should he not 
shirk that responsibility by asserting that they “under¬ 
stood the question just as well, and even better, than 
we do now.” 

But enough! Let all who believe that “our fathers 
who framed the government under which we live un¬ 
derstood this question just as well, and even better, 
than we do now,” speak as they spoke, and act as they 
acted upon it. This is all Republicans ask—all Repub¬ 
licans desire—in relation to slavery. As those fathers 
marked it, so let it be again marked, as an evil not to 
be extended, but to be tolerated and protected only be¬ 
cause of and so far as its actual presence among us 
makes that toleration and protection a necessity. Let 
all the guaranties those fathers gave it be not grudg¬ 
ingly, but fully and fairly, maintained. For this Re¬ 
publicans contend, and with this, so far as I know or 
believe, they will be content. 

And now, if they would listen,—as I suppose they 
will not,—I would address a few words to the South¬ 
ern people. 

I would say to them: You consider yourselves a 
reasonable and a just people; and I consider that in the 
general qualities of reason and justice you are not in¬ 
ferior to any other people. Still, when you speak of us 
Republicans, you do so only to denounce us as reptiles, 
or, at the best, as no better than outlaws. You will 
grant a hearing to pirates and murderers, but nothing 
like it to “Black Republicans.” In all your contentions 
with one another, each of you deems an unconditional 


244 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


condemnation of “Black Republicanism as the first 
thing* to be attended to. Indeed, such condemnation of 
us seems to be an indispensable prerequisite—license, so 
to speak—among you to be admitted or permitted to 
speak at all. How can you or not be prevailed upon 
to pause and to consider whether this is quite just to 
us, or even to yourselves? Bring forward your charges 
and specifications, and then be patient long enough to 
hear us deny or justify. 

You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes 
an issue; and the burden of proof is upon you. You 
produce your proof; and what is it? Why, that our 
party has no existence in your section—gets no votes 
in your section. The fact is substantially true; but 
does it prove the issue? If it does, then in case we 
should, without change of principle, begin to get votes 
in your section, we should thereby cease to be sectional. 
You cannot escape this conclusion; and yet, are you 
willing to abide by it? If you are, you will probably 
soon find that we have ceased to be sectional, for we 
shall get votes in your section this very year. You 
will then begin to discover, as the truth plainly is, that 
your proof does not touch the issue. The fact that we 
get no votes in your section is a fact of your making, 
and not of ours. And if there be fault in that fact, 
that fault is primarily yours, and remains so until you 
show that we repel you by some wrong principle or 
practice. If we do repel you by any wrong principle 
or practice, the fault is ours; but this brings you to 
where you ought to have started—to a discussion of 
the right or wrong of our principle. If our principle, 
put in practice, would wrong your section for the ben¬ 
efit of ours, or for any other object, then our principle, 


LINCOLN 


245 


and we with it, are sectional, and are justly opposed 
and denounced as such. Meet us, then, on the question 
of whether our principles, put in practice, would wrong 
your section; and so meet us as if it were possible that 
something may be said on our side. Do you accept the 
challenge? No! Then you really believe that the prin¬ 
ciple which “our fathers who framed the government 
under which we live’' thought so clearly right as to 
adopt it, and indorse it again and again, under their 
official oaths, is in fact so clearly wrong as to demand 
your condemnation without a moment’s consideration. 

Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warn¬ 
ing against sectional parties given by Washington in 
his Farewell Address. Less than eight years before 
Washington gave that warning, he had, as President 
of the United States, approved and signed an act of 
Congress enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the 
Northwestern Territory, which act embodied the policy 
of the government upon that subject up to and at the 
very moment he penned that warning; and about one 
year after he penned it, he wrote Lafayette that he con¬ 
sidered that prohibition a wise measure, expressing in 
the same connection his hope that we should at some 
time have a confederacy of free States. 

Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism 
has since arisen upon this same subject, is that warn¬ 
ing a weapon in your hands against us, or in our hands 
against you? Could Washington himself speak, would 
he cast the blame of that sectionalism upon us, who 
sustain his policy, or upon you, who repudiate it? We 
respect that warning of Washington, and we commend 
it to you, together with his example pointing to the 
right application of it. 


246 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


But you say you are conservative—eminently con¬ 
servative—while we are revolutionary, destructive, or 
something of the sort. What is conservatism? Is it 
not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and 
untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical old 
policy on the point in controversy which was adopted 
by “our fathers who framed the government under 
which we live,” while you with one accord reject, and 
scout, and spit upon that old policy, and insist upon 
substituting something new. True, you disagree among 
yourselves as to what that substitute shall be. You are 
divided on new propositions and plans, but you are 
unanimous in rejecting and denouncing the old policy 
of the fathers. Some of you are for reviving the for¬ 
eign slave trade; some for a congressional slave code 
for the Territories; some for Congress forbidding the 
Territories to prohibit slavery within their limits; some 
for maintaining slavery in the Territories through the 
judiciary; some for the “gurreat pur-rinciple” that “if 
one man would enslave another, no third man should 
object,” fantastically called “popular sovereignty”; but 
never a man among you is in favor of Federal prohi¬ 
bition of slavery in Federal Territories, according to 
the practice of “our fathers who framed the govern¬ 
ment under which we live.” Not one of all your vari¬ 
ous plans can show a precedent or an advocate in the 
century within which our government originated. Con¬ 
sider, then, whether your claim of conservatism for 
yourselves, and your charge of destructiveness against 
us, are based on the most clear and stable foundations. 

Again, you say we have made the slavery question 
more prominent than it formerly was. We deny it. 
We admit that it is more prominent, but we deny that 


LINCOLN 


247 


we made it so. It was not we, but you, who discarded 
the old policy of the fathers. We resisted, and still 
resist, your innovation; and thence comes the greater 
prominence of the question. Would you have that ques¬ 
tion reduced to its former proportions? Go back to 
that old policy. What has been will be again, under the 
same conditions. If you would have the peace of the 
old times, readopt the precepts and policy of the old 
times. 

You charge *hat we stir up insurrections among 
your slaves. We deny it; and what is your proof? 
Harper’s Ferry! John Brown! John Brown was no 
Republican; and you have failed to implicate a single 
Republican in his Harper’s Ferry enterprise. If any 
member of our party is guilty in that matter, you know 
it, or you do not know it. If you do know it, you are 
inexcusable for not designating the man and proving 
the fact. If you do not know it, you are inexcusable 
for asserting it, and especially for persisting in the as¬ 
sertion after you have tried and failed to make the 
proof. You need not be told that persisting in a charge 
which one does not know to be true, is simply mali¬ 
cious slander. 

Some of you admit that no Republican designedly 
aided or encouraged the Harper’s Ferry affair, but still 
insist that our doctrines and declarations necessarily 
lead to such results. We do not believe it. We know 
we hold no doctrine, and make no declaration, which 
were not held to and made by “our fathers who framed 
the government under which we live.” You never 
dealt fairly by us in relation to this affair. When it 
occurred, some important State elections were near at 
hand, and you were in evident glee with the belief that, 


248 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


by charging the blame upon us, you could get an ad¬ 
vantage of us in those elections. The elections came, 
and your expectations were not quite fulfilled. Every 
Republican man knew that, as to himself at least, your 
charge was a slander, and he was not much inclined by 
it to cast his vote in your favor. Republican doctrines 
and declarations are accompanied with a continual pro¬ 
test against any interference whatever with your slaves, 
or with you about your slaves. Surely, this does not 
encourage them to revolt. True, we do, in common 
with “our fathers who framed the government under 
which we live/' declare our belief that slavery is wrong; 
but the slaves do not hear us declare even this. For 
anything we say or do, the slaves would scarcely know 
there is a Republican party. I believe they would not, 
in fact, generally know it but for your misrepresenta¬ 
tion of us in their hearing. In your political contests 
among yourselves, each faction charges the other with 
Black Republicanism; and then, to give point to the 
charge, defines Black Republicanism to simply be in¬ 
surrection, blood, and thunder among the slaves. 

Slave insurrections are no more common now than 
they were before the Republican party was organized. 
What induced the Southampton insurrection, twenty- 
eight years ago, in which at least three times as many 
lives were lost as at Harper’s Ferry? You can scarcely 
stretch your very elastic fancy to the conclusion that 
Southampton was “got up by Black Republicanism.” 
In the present state of things in the United States, I 
do not think a general, or even a very extensive, slave 
insurrection is possible. The indispensable concert of 
action cannot be attained. The slaves have no means 
of rapid communication; nor can incendiary freemen, 


LINCOLN 


249 


black or white, supply it. The explosive materials are 
everywhere in parcels; but there neither are, nor can 
be supplied, the indispensable connecting trains. 

Much is said by Southern people about the affection 
of slaves for their masters and mistresses; and a part 
of it, at least, is true. A plot for an uprising could 
scarcely be devised and communicated to twenty indi¬ 
viduals before some one of them, to save the life of a 
favorite master or mistress, would divulge it. This is 
the rule; and the slave revolution in Hayti was not an 
exception to it, but a case occurring under peculiar cir¬ 
cumstances. The gunpowder plot of British history, 
though not connected with slaves, was more in point. 
In that case, only about twenty were admitted to the 
secret; and yet one of them, in his anxiety to save a 
friend, betrayed the plot to that friend, and, by conse¬ 
quence, averted the calamity. Occasional poisonings 
from the kitchen, and open or stealthy assassinations 
in the field, and local revolts extending to a score or 
so, will continue to occur as the natural results of slav¬ 
ery; but no general insurrection of slaves, as I think, 
can happen in this country for a long time. Whoever 
much fears, or much hopes, for such an event, will be 
alike disappointed. 

In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years 
ago, “It is still in our power to direct the process of 
emancipation and deportation peaceably, and in such 
slow degrees, as that the evil will wear off insensibly; 
and their places be, pari passu, filled up by free white 
laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force itself on, 
human nature must shudder at the prospect held up.” 

Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the 
power of emancipation is in the Federal Government. 


250 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


He spoke of Virginia; and, as to the power of eman¬ 
cipation, I speak of the slave-holding States only. The 
Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the 
power of restraining the extension of the institution 
the power to insure that a slave insurrection shall never 
occur on any American soil which is now free from 
slavery. 

John Brown’s effort was peculiar. It was not a slave 
insurrection. It was an attempt by white men to get up 
a revolt among slaves, in which the slaves refused to 
participate. In fact, it was so absurd that the slaves, 
with all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it could 
not succeed. That affair, in its philosophy, corresponds 
with the many attempts, related in history, at the as¬ 
sassination of kings and emperors. An enthusiast 
broods over the oppression of a people till he fancies 
himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He 
ventures the attempt, which ends in little else than his 
own execution. Orsini’s attempt on Louis Napoleon, 
and John Brown’s attempt at Harper’s Ferry, were, in 
their philosophy, precisely the same. The eagerness 
to cast blame on old England in the one case, and on 
New England in the other, does not disprove the same¬ 
ness of the two things. 

And how much would it avail you, if you could, by 
the use of John Brown, Helper’s book, and the like, 
break up the Republican organization? Human action 
can be modified to some extent, but human nature can¬ 
not be changed. There is a judgment and a feeling 
against slavery in this nation, which cast at least a 
million and a half of votes. You cannot destroy that 
judgment and feeling—that sentiment—by breaking up 
the political organization which rallies around it. You 


LINCOLN 


251 


can scarcely scatter and disperse an army which has 
been formed into order in the face of your heaviest 
fire; but if you could, how much would you gain by 
forcing the sentiment which created it out of the peace¬ 
ful channel of the ballot-box into some other channel? 
What would that other channel probably be? Would 
the number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged 
by the operation? 

But you will break up the Union rather than submit 
to a denial of your constitutional rights. 

That has a somewhat reckless sound; but it would 
be palliated, if not fully justified, were we proposing, 
by the mere force of numbers, to deprive you of some 
right plainly written down in the Constitution. But 
we are proposing no such thing. 

When you make these declarations you have a spe¬ 
cific and well-understood allusion to an assumed con¬ 
stitutional right of yours to take slaves into the Fed¬ 
eral Territories, and to hold them there as property. 
But no such right is specifically written in the Consti¬ 
tution. That instrument is literally silent about any 
such right. We, on the contrary, deny that such a 
right has any existence in the Constitution, even by 
implication. 

Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is that you will 
destroy the government, unless you be allowed to con¬ 
strue and force the Constitution as you plase, on all 
points in dispute between you and us. You will rule 
or ruin in all events. 

This, plainly stated, is your language. Perhaps you 
will say the Supreme Court has decided the disputed 
constitutional question in your favor. Not quite so. 
But waiving the lawyer’s distinction between dictum 


252 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

and decision, the covirt has decided the question for you 
in a sort of way. The court has substantially said, it 
is your constitutional right to take slaves into the Fed¬ 
eral Territories, and to hold them there as property. 
When I say the decision was made in a sort of way, 
I mean it was made in a divided court, by a bare ma¬ 
jority of the judges, and they not quite agreeing with 
one another in the reasons for making it; that it is 
so made as that its avowed supporters disagree with 
one another about its meaning, and that it was mainly 
based upon a mistaken statement of fact—the statement 
in the opinion that “the right of property in a slave is 
distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution.” 

An inspection of the Constitution will show that the 
right of property in a slave is not “distinctly and ex¬ 
pressly affirmed” in it. Bear in mind, the judges do 
not pledge their judicial opinion that such right is im¬ 
pliedly affirmed in the Constitution; but they pledge 
their veracity that it is “distinctly and expressly” af¬ 
firmed—“distinctly,” that is > not mingled with any¬ 
thing else—“expressly,” that is, in words meaning just 
that, without the aid of any inference, and susceptible 
of no other meaning. 

If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that 
such right is affirmed in the instrument by implication, 
it would be open to others to show that neither the 
word “slave” nor “slavery” is to be found in the Con¬ 
stitution, nor the word “property” even, in any connec¬ 
tion with language alluding to the things slave or slav¬ 
ery; and that wherever in that instrument the slave is 
alluded to, he is called a “person”; and wherever his 
master’s legal right in relation to him is alluded to, 
it is spoken of as “service or labor which may be due”— 


LINCOLN 


253 


as a debt payable in service or labor. Also it would 
be open to show, by contemporaneous history, that this 
mode of alluding to slaves and slavery, instead of speak¬ 
ing of them, was employed on purpose to exclude from 
the Constitution the idea that there could be property 
in man. 

To show all this is easy and certain. 

When this obvious mistake of the judges shall be 
brought to their notice, is it not reasonable to expect 
that they will withdraw the mistaken statement, and 
reconsider the conclusion based upon it? 

And then it is to be remembered that “our fathers 
who framed the government under which we live”— 
the men who made the Constitution—decided this same 
constitutional question in our favor long ago: decided 
it without division among themselves when making the 
decision; without division among themselves about the 
meaning of it after it was made, and, so far as any evi¬ 
dence is left, without basing it upon any mistaken state¬ 
ment of facts. 

Under all these circumstances, do you really feel 
yourselves justified to break up this government unless 
such a court decision as yours is shall be at once sub¬ 
mitted to as a conclusive and final rule of political ac¬ 
tion? But you will not abide the election of a Repub¬ 
lican president! In that supposed event, you say, you 
will destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great 
crime of having destroyed it will be upon us? That is 
cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and 
mutters through his teeth, “Stand and deliver, or I 
shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!” 

To be sure, what the robber demanded of me—my 
money—was my own; and I had a clear right to keep 


254 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


it; but it was no more my own than my vote is my 
own; and the threat of death to me, to extort my mon¬ 
ey, and the threat of destruction to the Union, to extort 
my vote, can scarcely be distinguished in principle. 

A few words now to Republicans. It is exceedingly 
desirable that all parts of this great Confederacy shall 
be at peace, and in harmony one with another. Let us 
Republicans do our part to have it so. Even though 
much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and 
ill temper. Even though the Southern people will not 
so much as listen to us, let us calmly consider their de¬ 
mands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate view of 
our duty, we possibly can. Judging by all they say and 
do, and by the subject and nature of their controversy 
with us, let us determine, if we can, what will sat¬ 
isfy them. 

Will they be satisfied if the Territories be uncondi¬ 
tionally surrendered to them? We know they will not 
In all their present complaints against us, the Terri¬ 
tories are scarcely mentioned. Invasions and insurrec¬ 
tions are the rage now. Will it satisfy them if, in the 
future, we have nothing to do with invasions and in¬ 
surrections? We know it will not. We so know, be¬ 
cause we know we never had anything to do with in¬ 
vasions and insurrections; and yet this total abstain¬ 
ing does not exempt us from the charge and the de¬ 
nunciation. 

The question recurs, What will satisfy them? Sim¬ 
ply this: we must not only let them alone, but we must 
somehow convince them that we do let them alone. 
This, we know by experience, is no easy task. We 
have been so trying to convince them from the very 
beginning of our organization, but with no success. 


LINCOLN 


255 


In all our platforms and speeches we have constantly 
protested our purpose to let them alone; but this has 
had no tendency to convince them. Alike unavailing 
to convince them is the fact that they have never de¬ 
tected a man of us in any attempt to disturb him. 

These natural and apparently adequate means, all 
failing, what will convince them? This, and this only: 
cease to call slavery wrong, and join them in calling 
it right. And this must be done thoroughly—done in 
acts as well as in words. Silence will not be tolerated— 
we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Senator 
Douglas’s new sedition law must be enacted and en¬ 
forced, suppressing all declarations that slavery is 
wrong, whether made in politics, in presses, in pulpits, 
or in private. We must arrest and return their fugi¬ 
tive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull down 
our free-State constitutions. The whole atmosphere 
must be disinfected from all taint of opposition to slav¬ 
ery, before they will cease to believe that all their trou¬ 
bles proceed from us. 

I am quite aware they do not state their case pre¬ 
cisely in this way. Most of them would probably say 
to us, “Let us alone; do nothing to us, and say what 
you please about slavery.” But we do let them alone,— 
have never disturbed them,—so that, after all, it is 
what we say which dissatisfies them. They will con¬ 
tinue to accuse us of doing, until we cease saying. 

I am also aware that they have not as yet, in terms 
demanded the overthrow of our free State constitu¬ 
tions. Yet those constitutions declare the wrong of 
slavery with more solemn emphasis than do all other 
sayings against it; and when all these other sayings 
shall have been silenced, the overthrow of these con- 


256 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


stitutions will be demanded, and nothing be left to 
resist the demand. It is nothing to the contrary that 
they do not demand the whole of this just now. De¬ 
manding what they do, and for the reason they do, 
they can voluntarily stop nowhere short of this con¬ 
summation. Holding as they do that slavery is mor¬ 
ally right and socially elevating, they cannot cease to 
demand a full national recognition of it, as a legal right 
and a social blessing. 

Nor can we justifiably withhold this on any ground 
save our conviction that slavery is wrong. If slavery 
is right, all words, acts, laws, and constitutions against 
it are themselves wrong, and should be silenced and 
swept away. If it is right, we cannot justly object to 
its nationality—its universality; if it is wrong, they 
cannot justly insist upon its extension—its enlarge¬ 
ment. All they ask we could readily grant, if we 
thought slavery right; all we ask they could as readily 
grant, if they thought it wrong. Their thinking it 
right, and our thinking it wrong, is the precise fact 
upon which depends the whole controversy. Thinking 
it right, as they do, they are not to blame for desiring 
its full recognition as being right; but thinking it 
wrong, as we do, can we yield to them? Can we cast 
our votes with their view, and against our own? In 
view of our moral, social, and political responsibilities, 
can we do this? 

Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to 
let it alone where it is, because that much is due to the 
necessity of arising from its actual presence in the na¬ 
tion; but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow 
it to spread into the national Territories and to over¬ 
run us here in these free States? 


LINCOLN 


257 


If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand 
by our duty fearlessly and effectively. Let us be di¬ 
verted by none of those sophistical contrivances where¬ 
with we are so industriously plied and belabored— 
contrivances such as groping for some middle ground 
between the right and the wrong; vain as the search 
for a man who should be neither a living man nor a 
dead man; such as a policy of “don’t care” in a ques¬ 
tion about which all true men do care; such as Union 
appeals beseeching true Union men to yield to Disun- 
ionists, reversing the divine rule, and calling, not the 
sinners, but the righteous to repentance; such as invo¬ 
cations to Washington, imploring men to unsay what 
Washington said and undo what Washington did. 

Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false 
accusations against us, nor frightened from it by men¬ 
aces of destruction to the government, nor of dungeons 
to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; 
and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty 
as we understand it. 

PORTION OF AN ADDRESS ON SECESSION* 
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS—1861 

Mr. President: This step of secession, once taken, 
can never be recalled; and all the baleful and wither¬ 
ing consequences that must follow, will rest on the con¬ 
vention for all coming time. When we and our pos¬ 
terity shall see our lovely South desolated by the demon 
of war, which this act of yours will inevitably invite 

♦This remarkable address was delivered in the Secession Conven¬ 
tion of the State of Georgia. This is a fine illustration of the fact 
that many of the men of the South were opposed to secession and 
believed in the American Constitution. 



258 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


and call forth; when our green fields of waving har¬ 
vest shall be trodden down by the murderous soldiery 
and fiery car of war sweeping over our land; our tem¬ 
ples of justice laid in ashes; all the horrors and deso¬ 
lation of war laid upon us; who but this convention 
will be held responsible for it? And who but him who 
shall have given his vote for this un-wise and ill-timed 
measure, as I honestly think and believe, shall be held 
to strict account for this suicidal act by the present gen¬ 
eration, and probably cursed and execrated by posterity 
for all coming time, for the wide and desolating ruin 
that will inevitably follow this act you now propose to 
perpetrate? Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a 
moment what reasons you can give, that will even sat¬ 
isfy yourselves in calmer moments—what reason you 
can give to your fellow sufferers in the calamity that 
it will bring upon us. What reasons can you give to 
the nations of the earth to justify it? They will be the 
calm and deliberate judges in the case; and what cause 
or one overt act can you name or point, on which to 
rest the plea of justification? What right has the 
North assailed? What interest of the South has been 
invaded? What justice has been denied? And what 
claim founded in justice and right has been withheld? 
Can either of you to-day name one governmental act 
of wrong, deliberately and purposely done by the gov¬ 
ernment of Washington, of which the South has a right 
to complain? I challenge the answer. While, on the 
other hand, let me show the facts (and believe me, gen¬ 
tlemen, I am not here the advocate of the North; but 
I am here the friend, the firm friend, and lover of the 
South, and her institutions, and for this reason I speak 
thus plainly and faithfully for yours, mine, and every 


STEPHENS 


259 


other man’s interest, the words of truth and soberness), 
of which I wish you to judge, and I will only state 
facts which are clear and undeniable, and which now 
stand as records authentic in the history of our coun¬ 
try. When we of the South demanded the slave trade, 
or the importation of Africans for the cultivation of 
our lands, did they not yield the right for twenty years ? 
When we asked a three-fifths representation in Con¬ 
gress for our slaves, was it not granted? When we 
asked and demanded the return of any fugitive from 
justice, or the recovery of those persons owing labor 
or allegiance, was it not incorporated in the Constitu¬ 
tion, and again ratified and strengthened by the Fugi¬ 
tive Slave Law of 1850? But do you reply that in 
many instances they have violated this compact, and 
have not been faithful to their engagements? As indi¬ 
vidual and local communities, they have done so; but 
not by the sanction of government; for that has always 
been true to Southern interests. Again, gentlemen, 
look at another act; when we have asked that more 
territory should be added, that we might spread the 
institution of slavery, have they not yielded to our de¬ 
mands in giving us Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, out 
of which four states have been carved, and ample ter¬ 
ritory for four more to be added in due time, if you, 
by the unwise and impolitic act, do not destroy this 
hope, and, perhaps, by it lose all, and have your last 
slave wrenched from you by stern military rule, as 
South America and Mexico were; or by the vindictive 
decree of a universal emancipation which may reason¬ 
ably be expected to follow. 

But, again, gentlemen, what have we to gain by this 
proposed change of our relation to the general govern- 


260 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ment? We have always had the control of it, and can 
yet, if we remain in it, and are as united as we have 
been. We have had a majority of the Presidents chosen 
from the South, as well as the control and management 
of most of those chosen from the North. We have had 
sixty years of Southern Presidents to their twenty-four, 
thus controlling the executive department. So of the 
judges of the Supreme Court, we have had eighteen 
from the South and but eleven from the North; al¬ 
though near four-fifths of the judicial business has 
arisen in the free states, yet a majority of the court has 
always been from the South. This we have required 
so as to guard against any interpretation of the Con¬ 
stitution unfavorable to us. In like manner we have 
been equally watchful to guard our interests in the leg¬ 
islative branch of government. In choosing the presid¬ 
ing presidents (pro tern.) of the Senate, we have had 
twenty-four to their eleven. Speakers of the House we 
have had twenty-three, and they twelve. While the 
majority of the Representatives, from their greater 
population, have always been from the North, yet we 
have so generally secured the Speaker, because he, to 
a great extent, shapes and controls the legislation of 
the country. Nor have we had less control in every 
other department of the general government. Attor¬ 
ney generals we have had fourteen, while the North 
have had but five. Foreign ministers we have had 
eighty-six and they but fifty-four. While three-fourths 
of the business which demands diplomatic agents abroad 
is clearly from the free states, from their greater com¬ 
mercial interests, yet we have had the principal embas¬ 
sies, so as to secure the world markets for our cotton, 
tobacco, and sugar on the best possible terms. We 


STEPHENS 


261 


have had a vast majority of the higher officers of both 
army and navy, while a larger proportion of the sol¬ 
diers and sailors were drawn from the North. Equally 
so of clerks, auditors, and comptrollers filling the exec¬ 
utive department; the records show, for the last fifty 
years, that of the three thousand thus employed, we 
have had more than two-thirds of the same, while we 
have but one-third of the white population of the Re¬ 
public. 

Again, look at another item, and one, be assured, in 
which we have a great and vital interest; it is that 
of revenue, or means of supporting government. From 
official documents, we learn that a fraction over three- 
fourths of. the revenue collected for the support of the 
government has uniformly been raised from the North. 

Pause now while you can, gentlemen, and contem¬ 
plate carefully and candidly these important items. 
Look at another necessary branch of government, and 
learn from stern statistical facts how matters stand in 
that department. I mean the mail and post office priv¬ 
ileges that we now enjoy under the general government 
as it has been for years past. The expense for the 
transportation of the mail in the free states was, by 
the report of the postmaster general for the year 1860, 
a little over $13,000,000, while the income was $19,- 
000,000. But in the slave states the transportation of 
the mail was $14,716,000, while the revenue from the 
same was $8,001,026, leaving a deficit of $6,704,974, 
to be supplied by the North, for our accommodation, 
and without it, we must have been entirely cut off from 
this most essential branch of government. 

Leaving out of view, for the present, the countless 
millions of dollars you must expend in a war with the 


262 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


North; with tens of thousands of your sons and broth¬ 
ers slain in battle, and offered up as sacrifices upon the 
altar of your ambition—and for what, we ask again? 
Is it for the overthrow of the American government, 
established by our common ancestry, cemented and built 
up by their sweat and blood, and founded on the broad 
principles of right, justice and humanity? And as 
such, I must declare here, as I have often done before, 
and which has been repeated by the greatest and wisest 
of statesmen and patriots, in this and other lands, that 
it is the best and freest government—the most equal 
in its rights, the most just in its decisions, the most 
lenient in its measures, and the most aspiring in its 
principles, to elevate the race of men, that the sun of 
heaven ever shone upon. Now, for you to attempt to 
overthrow such a government as this, under which we 
have lived for more than three-quarters of a century— 
in which we have gained our wealth, our standing as 
a nation, our domestic safety, while the elements of 
peril are around us, with peace and tranquility accom¬ 
panied with unbounded prosperity and rights unassail¬ 
ed— is the height of madness, folly, and wickedness, 
to which I neither lend my sanction nor my vote. 


LINCOLN 


263 


THE DEDICATION POEM 

Read by Edwin Markham at the dedication of the 
Lincoln Memorial at Washington, D. C., May 30, 1922. 
Before reading he said: 

“No oration, no poem, can rise to the high level of 
this historic hour. Nevertheless, I venture to inscribe 
this revised version of my Lincoln poem to this stu¬ 
pendous Lincoln Memorial, to this far-shining monu¬ 
ment of remembrance, erected in immortal marble to 
the honor of our deathless martyr—the consecrated 
statesman, the ideal American, the ever-loved friend 
of humanity.” 

LINCOLN, THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE* 

When the Norn Mother saw the Whirlwind Hour 
Greatening and darkening as it hurried on, 

She left the heaven of Heroes and came down 
To make a man to meet the mortal need. 

She took the tried clay of the common road— 

Clay warm yet with the genial heat of Earth, 

Dasht through it all a strain of prophecy; 

Tempered the heap with thrill of human tears; 

Then mixt a laughter with the serious stuff. 

Into the shape she breathed a flame to light 
That tender, tragic, ever-changing face; 

And laid on him a sense of the Mystic Powers, 
Moving—all husht—behind the mortal veil. 

Here was a man to hold against the world, 

A man to match the mountains and the sea. 


Printed through the courtesy of our great poet, Edwin Markham. 



264 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


The color of the ground was in him, the red earth; 
The smack and tang of elemental things; 

The rectitude and patience of the cliff; 

The good-will of the rain that loves all leaves; 

The friendly welcome of the wayside well; 

The courage of the bird that dares the sea; 

The gladness of the wind that shakes the corn; 

The pity of the snow that hides all scars; 

The secrecy of streams that make their way 
Under the mountain to the rifted rock; 

The tolerance and equity of light 

That gives as freely to the shrinking flower 

As to the great oak flaring to the wind— 

To the grave’s low hill as to the Matterhorn 
That shoulders out the sky. Springing from the West, 
He drank the valorous youth of a new world. 

The strength of virgin forests braced his mind, 

The hush of spacious prairies stilled his soul. 

His words were oaks in acorns; and his thoughts 
Were roots that firmly gript the granite truth. 

Up from log cabin to the Capitol, 

One fire was on his spirit, one resolve— 

To send the keen ax to the root of wrong, 

Clearing a free way for the feet of God, 

The eyes of conscience testing every stroke, 

To make his deed the measure of a man. 

He built the rail-pile as he built the State, 

Pouring his splendid strength through every blow: 
The grip that swung the ax in Illinois 
Was on the pen that set a people free. 


LINCOLN 


265 


So came the Captain with the mighty heart; 

And when the judgment thunders split the house, 
Wrenching the rafters from their ancient rest, 

He held the ridgepole up, and spikt again 
The rafters of the Home. He held his place— 

Held the long purpose like a growing tree— 

Held on through blame and faltered not at praise. 
And when he fell in whirlwind, he went down 
As when a lordly cedar, green with boughs, 

Goes down with a great shout upon the hills: 

And leaves a lonesome place against the sky. 

THE GREATNESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN* 
By Robert G. Ingersoll 

On the 12th day of February, 1809, two babes were 
born—one in the woods of Kentucky, amid the hard¬ 
ships and poverty of pioneers; one in England, sur- 
sounded by wealth and culture. One was educated in 
the University of Nature, the other at Cambridge. 
One associated his name with the enfranchisement of 
labor, with the emancipation of millions, with the sal¬ 
vation, of the republic. He is known to us as Abraham 
Lincoln. The other broke the chains of superstition 
and filled the world with intellectual light, and he is 
known as Charles Darwin. 

Nothing is grander than to break chains from the 
bodies of men—nothing nobler than to destroy the 
phantoms of the soul. Because of these two men the 
nineteenth century is illustrious. 

♦From “Abraham Lincoln/' by Robert Ingersoll. Printed by spec¬ 
ial permission of C. P. Farrell, only authorized publisher of the 
writings of Robert G. Ingersoll, 117 East 21st street, New York City. 



266 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


A few men and women make a nation glorious— 
Shakespeare made England immortal, Voltaire civil¬ 
ized and humanized France; Goethe, Schiller and 
Humboldt lifted Germany into the light. Angelo, 
Raphael, Galileo and Bruno crowned with fadeless lau- 
rel the Italian brow, and now the most precious treas¬ 
ure of the Great Republic is the memory of Abraham 
Lincoln. 

Every generation has its heroes, its iconoclasts, its 
pioneers, its ideals. The people always have been and 
still are divided, at least into two classes—the many, 
who with their backs to the sunrise worship the past, 
and the few, who keep their faces toward the dawn— 
the many, who are satisfied with the World as it is; 
the few, who labor and suffer for the future, for those 
to be, and who seek to rescue the oppressed, to destroy 
the cruel distinctions of caste, and to civilize mankind. 

Yet it sometimes happens that the liberator of one 
age becomes the oppressor of the next. His reputa¬ 
tion becomes so great—he is so revered and worship¬ 
ed—that his followers, in his name, attack the hero 
who endeavors to take another step in advance. 

The heroes of the Revolution, forgetting the justice 
for which they fought, put chains upon the limbs of 
others, and in their names the lovers of liberty were 
denounced as ingrates and traitors. 

During the Revolution our fathers, to justify their 
rebellion, dug down to the bed-rock of human rights 
and planted their standard there. They declared that 
all men were entitled to liberty and that government 
derived its power from the consent oi the governed. 
But when victory came, the great principles were for¬ 
gotten and chains were put upon the limbs of men. 


LINCOLN 


267 


Both of the great political parties were controlled by 
greed and selfishness. Both were the defenders and 
protectors of slavery. For nearly three-quarters of a 
century these parties had control of the republic. The 
principal object of both parties was the protection of 
the infamous institution. Both were eager to secure 
the Southern vote and both sacrificed principle and 
honor upon the altar of success. 

At last the Whig party died and the Republican was 
born. This party was opposed to the further exten¬ 
sion of slavery. The Democratic party of the South 
wished to make the “divine institution” national—while 
the Democrats of the North wanted the question de¬ 
cided by each territory for itself. 

Each of these parties had conservatives and extrem¬ 
ists. The extremists of the Democratic party were in 
the rear and wished to go back; the extremists of the 
Republican party were in the front, and wished to go 
forward. The extreme Democrat was willing to de¬ 
stroy the Union for the sake of slavery, and the ex¬ 
treme Republican was willing to destroy the Union for 
the sake of liberty. 

Neither party could succeed without the votes of its 
extremists. . . . 

Lincoln was educated in the University of Nature— 
educated by cloud and star—by field and winding 
stream — by billowed plains and solemn forests — by 
morning’s birth and death of day—by storm and night 
—by the ever eager Spring—by Summer’s wealth of 
leaf and vine and flower—the sad and transient glories 
of the Autumn woods—and Winter, builder of home 
and fireside, and whose storms without create the social 
warmth within. 


268 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


He was perfectly acquainted with the political ques¬ 
tions of the day—heard them discussed at taverns and 
country stores, at voting places and courts and on the 
stump. He knew all the arguments for and against, 
and no man of his time was better equipped for intel¬ 
lectual conflict. He knew the average mind — the 
thoughts of the people, the hopes and prejudices of his 
fellow-men. He had the power of accurate statement. 
He was logical, candid and sincere. In addition, he 
had the “touch of nature that makes the whole world 
kin.” 

In 1858 he was a candidate for the Senate against ; 
Stephen A. Douglas. 

The extreme Democrats would not vote for Douglas, 
but the extreme Republicans did vote for Lincoln. Lin¬ 
coln occupied the middle ground, and was the compro¬ 
mise candidate of his own party. He lived for many | 
years in the intellectual territory of compromise—in a 
part of our country settled by Northern and Southern 
men—where Northern and Southern ideas met, and the 
ideas of the two sections were brought together and 
compared. 

The sympathies of Lincoln, his ties of kindred, were 
with the South. His convictions, his sense of justice, 
and his ideals were with the North. He knew the hor¬ 
rors of slavery, and he felt the unspeakable ecstasies 
and glories of freedom. He had the kindness, the gen¬ 
tleness, of true greatness, and he could not have been a 
master; he had the manhood and independence of true 
greatness, and he could not have been a slave. He was 
just, and he was incapable of putting a burden upon 
others that he himself would not willingly bear. 

He was merciful and profound, and it was not neces- 



LINCOLN 


269 


sary for him to read the history of the world to know 
that liberty and slavery could not live in the same na¬ 
tion, or in the same brain. Lincoln was a statesman. 
And there is this difference between a politician and a 
statesman: A politician schemes and works, in every 
way to make the people do something for him. A states¬ 
man wishes to do something for the people. With him 
place and power are means to an end, and the end is the 
good of his country. 

In this campaign Lincoln demonstrated three things 
—first, that he was the intellectual superior of his op¬ 
ponent; second, that he was right; and third, that a 
majority of the voters of Illinois were on his side. 

In 1860 the Republic reached a crisis. The conflict 
between liberty and slavery could no longer be delayed. 
For three-quarters of a century the forces had been 
gathering for the battle. 

After the Revolution, principle was sacrificed for the 
sake of gain. The Constitution contradicted the Declar¬ 
ation. Liberty as a principle was held in contempt. 
Slavery took possession of the government. Slavery 
made the laws, corrupted courts, dominated presidents 
and demoralized the people. 

I do not hold the South responsible for slavery any 
more than I do the North. The fact is, that individuals 
and nations act as they must. There is no chance. Back 
of every event—of every hope, prejudice, fancy and 
dream—of every opinion and belief—of every vice and 
virtue—of every smile and curse, is the efficient cause. 
The present moment is the child, and the necessary 
child, of all the past. . . . 

It is not a common thing to elect a really great man 
to fill the highest official position. I do not say that the 


270 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


great presidents have been chosen by accident. Prob¬ 
ably it would be better to say that they were the favor¬ 
ites of a happy chance. 

The average man is afraid of genius. He feels as an 
awkward man feels in the presence of a sleight-of-hand 
performer. He admires and suspects. Genius appears 
to carry too much sail—to lack prudence, has too much 
courage. The ballast of dullness inspires confidence. 

By a happy chance Lincoln was nominated and elected 
in spite of his fitness—and the patient, gentle, just and 
loving man was called upon to bear as great a burden as 
man has ever borne. 

When Lincoln became president, he was held in con¬ 
tempt by the South—underrated by the North and East 
—not appreciated even by his Cabinet—and yet he was 
not only one of the wisest, but one of the shrewdest of 
mankind. Knowing that he had the right to enforce the 
laws of the Union in all parts of the United States and 
Territories—knowing, as he did, that the secessionists 
were in the wrong, he also knew that they had sympa¬ 
thizers not only in the North, but in other lands. 

Consequently, he felt that it was of the utmost im¬ 
portance that the South should fire the first shot, should 
do some act that would solidify the North, and gain for 
us the justification of the civilized world. 

He proposed to give food to the soldiers at Sumter. 
He asked the advice of all his Cabinet on this question, 
and all, with the exception of Montgomery Blair, an¬ 
swered in the negative, giving their reasons in writing. 
In spite of this, Lincoln took his own course—endeav¬ 
ored to send the supplies, and while thus engaged, doing 
his simple duty, the South commenced actual hostilities 
and fired on the fort. The course pursued by Lincoln 


LINCOLN 


271 


was absolutely right, and the act of the South to a great 
extent solidified the North, and gained for the Republic 
the justification of a great number of people in other 
lands. 

At that time Lincoln appreciated the scope and con¬ 
sequences of the impending conflict. Above all other 
thoughts in his mind was this: 

“This conflict will settle the question, at least for cen¬ 
turies to come, whether man is capable of governing 
himself, and consequently is of greater importance to 
the free than to the enslaved.” 

He knew what depended on the issue and said: “We 
shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of 
earth.” 

Then came a crisis in the North. It became clearer 
and clearer to Lincoln’s mind, day by day, that the re¬ 
bellion was slavery, and that it was necessary to keep 
the border States on the side of the Union. For this 
purpose he proposed a scheme of emancipation and col¬ 
onization—a scheme by which the owners of slaves 
should be paid the full value of what they called their 
“property.” 

He knew that if the border States agreed to gradual 
emancipation, and received compensation for their 
slaves, they would be forever lost to the Confederacy, 
whether secession succeeded or not. It was objected at 
the time, by some, that the scheme was too expensive; 
but Lincoln, wiser than his advisers—far wiser than his 
enemies—demonstrated that from an economical point 
of view his course was best. 

He proposed that $400 be paid for slaves, including 
men, women and children. This was a large price, and 
yet he showed how much cheaper it was to purchase 
than to carry on the war. 


272 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


At that time, at the price mentioned, there were about 
$750,000 worth of slaves in Delaware. The cost of car¬ 
rying on the war was at least two millions of dollars a 
day, and for one-third of one day’s expenses all the 
slaves in Delaware could be purchased. He also showed 
that all the slaves in Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky 
and Missouri could be bought, at the same price, for 
less than the expense of carrying on the war for eighty- 
seven days. 

This was the wisest thing that could have been pro¬ 
posed, and yet such was the madness of the South, such 
the indignation of the North, that the advice was un¬ 
heeded. 

Again, in July, 1862, he urged on the Representa¬ 
tives of the border States a scheme of gradual compen¬ 
sated emancipation; but the Representatives were too 
deaf to hear, too blind to see. . . . 

On the 22nd of July, 1862, Lincoln sent word to the 
members of his Cabinet that he wished to see them: It 
so happened that Secretary Chase was the first to ar¬ 
rive. He found Lincoln reading a book. Looking up 
from the page, the President said: 

'‘Chase, did you ever read this book?” 

“What book is it?” asked Chase. 

“Artemus Ward,” replied Lincoln. “Let me read you 
this chapter, entitled ‘Wax Wurx in Albany’.” And so 
he began reading while the other members of the Cab¬ 
inet one by one came in. At last Stanton told Mr. 
Lincoln that he was in a great hurry, and if any busi¬ 
ness was to be done he would like to do it at once. 
Whereupon Mr. Lincoln laid down the open book, 
opened a drawer, took out a paper and said: “Gentle¬ 
men, I have called you together to notify you what I 


LINCOLN 


273 


have determined to do. I want no advice. Nothing can 
change my mind/’ 

He then read the Proclamation of Emancipation. 
Chase thought there ought to be something about God 
at the close, to which Lincoln replied: “Put it in, it 
won’t hurt it.” It was also agreed that the President 
would wait for a victory in the field before giving the 
Proclamation to the World. 

The meeting was over, the members went their way. 
Mr. Chase was the last to go, and as he went through 
the door looked back and saw that Mr. Lincoln had 
taken up the book and was again engrossed in the 
“Wax Wurx in Albany.” 

This was on the 22nd of July, 1862. On the 22nd of 
August of the same year—after Lincoln wrote his cele¬ 
brated letter to Horace Greeley, in which he stated that 
his object was* to save the Union; that he would save it 
with slavery if he could; that if it was necessary to de¬ 
stroy slavery in order to save the Union, he would; in 
other words, he would do what was necessary to save 
the Union. . . . 

Lincoln was by nature a diplomat. He knew the art 
of sailing against the wind. He had as much shrewd¬ 
ness as is consistent with honesty. He understood, not 
only the rights of individuals, but of nations. In all his 
correspondence with other governments he neither 
wrote nor sanctioned a line which afterward was used 
to tie his hands. In the use of perfect English he easily 
rose above all his advisers and all his fellows. 

No one claims that Lincoln did all. He could have 
done nothing without the generals in the field, and the 
generals could have done nothing without their armies. 
The praise is due to all—to the private as much as to 


274 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

the officer; to the lowest who did his duty, as much as 
to the highest. 

My heart goes out to the brave private as much as to 
the leader of the host. 

But Lincoln stood at the center and with infinite pa¬ 
tience, with consummate skill, with the genius of good¬ 
ness, directed, cheered, consoled, and conquered. . . . 

Lincoln always saw the end. Pie was unmoved by the 
storms and currents of the times. Pie advanced too rap¬ 
idly for the conservative politicians, too slowly for the 
radical enthusiasts. He occupied the line of safety, and 
held by his personality—by the force of his great char¬ 
acter, by his charming candor—the masses on his side. 

The soldiers thought of him as a father. 

All who had lost their sons in battle felt that they 
had his sympathy—felt that his face was as sad as 
theirs. They knew that Lincoln was actuated by one 
motive, and that his energies were bent to the attain¬ 
ment of one end—the salvation of the Republic. 

They knew that he was kind, sincere, and merciful. 
They knew that in his veins there was no drop of 
tyrants’ blood. They knew that he used his power to 
protect the innocent, to save reputation and life—that 
he had the brain of a philosopher — the heart of a 
mother. 

During all the years of war, Lincoln stood the em¬ 
bodiment of mercy, between discipline and death. He 
pitied the imprisoned and condemned. He took the un¬ 
fortunate in his arms, and was the friend even of the 
convict. He knew temptation’s strength—the weakness 
of the will—and how in fury’s sudden flame the judg¬ 
ment drops the scales, and passion—blind and deaf— 
usurps the throne. 

One day a woman, accompanied by a Senator, called 


LINCOLN 


275 


on the President. The woman was the wife of one of 
Mosby’s men. Her husband had been captured, tried, 
and condemned to be shot. She came to ask for the 
pardon of her husband. The President heard her story 
and then asked what kind of a man her husband was. 
“Is he intemperate, does he abuse the children and beat 
you?” 

“No, no,” said the wife, “he is a good man, a good 
husband; he loves me and he loves the children, and we 
cannot live without him. The only trouble is that he is 
a fool about politics—I live in the North, born there, 
and if I get him home, he will do no more fighting for 
the South.” 

“Well,” said Mr. Lincoln, after examining the pa¬ 
pers, “I will pardon your husband and turn him over to 
you for safe keeping.” The poor woman, overcome with 
joy, sobbed as though her heart would break. 

“My dear woman,” said Lincoln, “if I had known 
how badly it was going to make you feel, I never would 
have pardoned him.” 

“You do not understand me,” she cried between her 
sobs. “You do not understand me.” 

“Yes, yes, I do,” answered the President, “and if you 
do not go away at once I shall be crying with you.” 

On another occasion, a member of Congress, on his 
way to see Lincoln, found in one of the anterooms of 
the White House an old white-haired man, sobbing—• 
his wrinkled face wet with tears. The old man told him 
that for several days he had tried to see the President— 
that he wanted a pardon for his son. The Congress¬ 
man told the old man to come with him and he would 
introduce him to Mr. Lincoln. On being introduced, the 
old man said: “Mr. Lincoln, my wife sent me to you. 
We had three boys. They all joined your army. One of 


276 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


’em has been killed, one’s a-fighting now, and one of 
’em, the youngest, has been tried for deserting and he’s 
going to be shot day after tomorrow. He never de¬ 
serted. He’s wild, and he may have drunk too much 
and wandered off, but he never deserted. ’Tain't in the 
blood. He’s his mother’s favorite, and if he’s shot, I 
know she’ll die.” The President, turning to his secre¬ 
tary, said: “Telegraph General Butler to suspend the 

execution in the case of-(giving his name) 

until further orders from me, and ask him to an¬ 
swer-.” 

The Congressman congratulated the old man on his 
success—but the old man did not respond. He was not 
satisfied. “Mr. President,” he began, “I can’t take that 
news home. It won’t satisfy his mother. How do I 
know but what you’ll give further orders tomorrow?” 

“My good man,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I have to do the 
best 1 can. The generals are complaining because I 
pardon so many. They say that my mercy destroys dis¬ 
cipline. Now, when you get home you tell his mother 
what you said to me about my giving further orders, 
and then you tell her that I said this: “If your son 
lives until they get further orders from me, that when 
he does die people will say that old Methuselah was a 
baby compared to him.” 

The pardoning power is the only remnant of abso¬ 
lute sovereignty that a President has. Through all the 
years, Lincoln will be known as Lincoln the loving, Lin¬ 
coln the merciful. 

Lincoln had the keenest sense of humor, and always 
saw the laughable side even of disaster. In his humor 
there was logic and the best of sense. No matter how 
complicated the question, or how embarrassing the sit- 




LINCOLN 277 

uation, his humor furnished an answer and a door of 
escape. 

Vallandigham was a friend of the South, and did 
what he could to sow the seeds of failure. In his opin¬ 
ion everything, except rebellion, was unconstitutional. 

He was arrested, convicted by a courtmartial, and 
sentenced to imprisonment. 

There was doubt about the legality of the trial, and 
thousands in the North denounced the whole proceed¬ 
ings as tyrannical and infamous. At the same time mil¬ 
lions demanded that Vallandigham should be punished. 

Lincoln’s humor came to the rescue. He disapproved 
of the findings of the court, changed the punishment, 
and ordered that Mr. Vallindigham should be sent to 
his friends in the South. Those who regarded the act 
as unconstitutional almost forgave it for the sake of 
its humor. 

Horace Greeley always had the idea that he was 
greatly superior to Lincoln, because he lived in a larger 
town, and for a long time insisted that the people of 
the North and the people of the South desired peace. 
He took it upon himself to lecture Lincoln. Lincoln, 
with that wonderful sense of humor, united with 
shrewdness and profound wisdom, told Greeley that, 
if the South really wanted peace, he (Lincoln) desired 
the same thing, and was doing all he could to bring it 
about. Greeley insisted that a commission should be 
appointed, with authority to negotiate with the repre¬ 
sentatives of the Confederacy. This was Lincoln’s 
opportunity. He authorized Greeley to act as such 
commissioner. The great editor felt that he was caught. 
For a time he hesitated, but finally went, and found that 
the Southern commissioners were willing to take into 


278 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


consideration any offers of peace that Lincoln might 
make, consistent with the independence of the Con¬ 
federacy. 

The failure of Greeley was humiliating, and the po¬ 
sition in which he was left, absurd. 

Again the humor of Lincoln had triumphed. 

Lincoln, to satisfy a few fault-finders in the North, 
went to Grant’s headquarters and met some Confed¬ 
erate commissioners. He urged that it was hardly 
proper for him to negotiate with the representatives of 
rebels in arms—that if the South wanted peace, all they 
had to do was to stop fighting. One of the commis¬ 
sioners cited as a precedent the fact that Charles the 
First negotiated with rebels in arms. To which Lin¬ 
coln replied that Charles the First lost his head. The 
conference came to nothing, as Mr. Lincoln expected. 

The commissioners, one of them being Alexander H. 
Stephens, who, when in good health, weighed about 
ninety pounds, dined with the President and General 
Grant. After dinner, as they were leaving, Stephens 
put on an English ulster, the tails of which reached 
the ground, while the collar was somewhat above the 
wearer’s head. 

As Stephens went out, Lincoln touched Grant and 
said: “Grant, look at Stephens. Did you ever see as 
little a nubbin with as much shuck?” 

Lincoln always tried to do things in the easiest way. 
He did not waste his strength. He was not particular 
about moving along straight lines. He did not tunnel 
the mountains. He was willing to go around, and 
reach the end desired as a river reaches the sea. 

One of the most wonderful things ever done by Lin¬ 
coln was the promotion of General Hooker. After the 


LINCOLN 


279 


battle of Fredericksburg, General Burnside found great 
fault with Hooker, and wished to have him removed 
from the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln disapproved 
of Burnside’s order, and gave Hooker the command. 
He then wrote Hooker this memorable letter: 

“I have placed you at the head of the army of the 
Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what ap¬ 
pear to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it 
best for you to know that there are some things in re¬ 
gard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I be¬ 
lieve you to be a brave and skillful soldier—which, of 
course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics 
with your profession—in which you are right. You 
have confidence—which is a valuable, if not an indis¬ 
pensable, quality. You are ambitious, which, within 
reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm; but 
I think that during General Burnside’s command of 
the army you have taken counsel of your ambition to 
thwart him as much as you could—in which you did a 
great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious 
and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such 
a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both 
the army and the government needed a dictator. Of 
course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have 
given you command. Only those generals who gain 
successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you 
is military successes, and I will risk the dictatorship. 
The government will support you to the utmost of its 
ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done 
and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the 
spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of 
criticising their commander and withholding confi¬ 
dence in him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist 


280 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


you, so far as I can, to put it down. Neither you, nor 
Napoleon, if he were alive, can get any good out of an 
army while such a spirit prevails in it. And now be¬ 
ware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with en¬ 
ergy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us 
victories.” 

This letter has, in my judgment, no parallel. The 
mistaken magnanimity is almost equal to the prophecy: 

“I much fear that the spirit which you have aided 
to infuse into the army, of criticising their commander 
and withholding confidence in him, will now turn 
upon you.” 

Chancellorsville was the fulfillment. 

Mr. Lincoln was a statesman. The great stumbling- 
block—the great obstruction—in Lincoln’s way, and 
in the way of thousands, was the old doctrine of 
States’ rights. 

This doctrine was first established to protect slav¬ 
ery. It was clung to to protect the interstate slave 
trade. It became sacred in connection with the Fugi¬ 
tive Slave Law, and it was finally used as the corner¬ 
stone of secession. 

This doctrine was never appealed to in defense of 
the right—always in support of the wrong. For many 
years politicians upon both sides of this question en¬ 
deavored to express the exact relations existing be¬ 
tween the Federal Government and the States, and I 
know of no one who succeeded except Lincoln. In his 
message of 1861, delivered on July the 4th, the defini¬ 
tion is given, and it is perfect: 

“Whatever concerns the whole should be confided to 
the whole—to the General Government. Whatever con¬ 
cerns only the State should be left exclusively to the 
State.” 


LINCOLN 


281 


When that definition is realized in practice, this 
country becomes a nation. Then we shall know that 
the first allegiance of the citizen is not to his State, 
but to the Republic, and that the first duty of the Re¬ 
public is to protect the citizen, not only when in other 
lands, but at home, and that this duty cannot be dis¬ 
charged by delegating it to the States. 

Lincoln believed in the sovereignty of the people—in 
the supremacy of the nation—in the territorial integrity 
of the Republic. 

A great actor can be known only when he has as¬ 
sumed the principal character in a great drama. Pos¬ 
sibly the greatest actors have never appeared, and it 
may be that the greatest leaders have lived their lives 
of perfect peace. Lincoln assumed the leading part in 
the greatest drama ever enacted upon the stage of this 
continent. 

His criticisms of military movements, his corre¬ 
spondence with his generals and others on the conduct 
of the war, show that he was at all times master of the 
situation—that he was a natural strategist, that he ap¬ 
preciated the difficulties and advantages of every kind, 
and that in “the still and mental” field of war he stood 
the peer of any man beneath the flag. 

Had McClellan followed his advice, he would have 
taken Richmond. 

Had Hooker acted in accordance with his sugges¬ 
tions, Chancellorsville would have been a victory for 
the nation. 

Lincoln’s political prophecies were all fulfilled. 

We know now that he not only stood at the top, but 
that he occupied the centre, from first to last, and 
that he did this by reason of his intelligence, his 


282 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


humor, his philosophy, his courage and his patriotism. 

In passion’s storm he stood, unmoved, patient, just 
and candid. In his brain there was no cloud, and in 
his heart no hate. He longed to save the South as well 
as North, to see the nation one and free. 

He lived until the end was known. 

He lived until the Confederacy was dead—until Lee 
surrendered, until Davis fled, until the doors of Libby 
Prison were opened, until the Republic was supreme. 

He lived until Lincoln and Liberty were united 
forever. 

He lived to cross the desert—to reach the palms of 
victory—to hear the murmured music of the welcome 
waves. 

He lived until all loyal hearts were his—until the 
victory of his deeds made music in the souls of men— 
until he knew that on Columbia’s Calendar of worth 
and fame his name stood first. 

He lived until there remained nothing for him to do 
as great as he had done. 

What he did was worth living for, worth dying for. 

He lived until he stood in the midst of universal joy, 
beneath the outstretched wings of Peace—the foremost 
man in all the world. 

And then the horror came. Night fell on the noon. 
The Savior of the Republic, the breaker of chains, the 
liberator of millions, he who had “assured freedom to 
the free,” was dead. 

Upon his brow fame placed the immortal wreath, and 
for the first time in the history of the world a nation 
bowed and wept. 

The memory of Lincoln is the strongest, tenderest tie 
that binds all hearts together now, and holds all States 
beneath a nation’s flag. 


LINCOLN 


283 


Abraham Lincoln—strange mingling of mirth and 
tears, of the tragic and grotesque, of cap and crown, 
of Socrates and Democritus, of Aesop and Marcus Au¬ 
relius, of all that is gentle and just, humorous and hon¬ 
est, merciful, wise, laughable, lovable and divine, and 
all consecrated to the use of man; while through all, 
and over all, were an overwhelming sense of obligation, 
of chivalric loyalty to truth, and upon all, the shadow 
of the tragic end. 

Nearly all the great historic characters are impos¬ 
sible monsters, disproportioned by flattery, or by cal¬ 
umny deformed. We know nothing of their peculiar¬ 
ities, or nothing but their peculiarities. About these 
oaks there clings none of the earth of humanity. 

Washington is now only a steel engraving. About 
the real man who lived and loved and hated and 
schemed, we know but little. The glass through which 
we look at him is of such high magnifying power that 
the features are exceeding indistinct. 

Hundreds of people are now engaged in smoothing 
out the lines of Lincoln’s face—forcing all features to 
the common mould—so that he may be known, not as 
he really was, but, according to their poor standard, 
as he should have been. 

Lincoln was not a type. He stands alone—no an¬ 
cestors, no fellows, no successors. 

He had the advantage of living in a new country, 
of social equality, of personal freedom, of seeing in the 
horizon of his future the perpetual star of hope. He 
preserved his individuality and his self-respect. He 
knew and mingled with men of every kind; and, after 
all, men are the best books. He became acquainted 
with the ambitions and hopes of the heart, the means 


284 


PATRIOTIC .WRITINGS 


used to accomplish ends, the springs of action, and the 
seeds of thought. He was familiar with nature, with 
actual things, with common fact. He loved and appre¬ 
ciated the poems of the year, the drama of the seasons. 

In a new country, a man must possess at least three 
virtues—honesty, courage, and generosity. In culti¬ 
vated society, cultivation is often more important than 
soil. A well-educated counterfeit passes more readily 
than a blurred genuine. It is necessary only to observe 
the unwritten laws of society—to be honest enough to 
keep out of prison, and generous enough to subscribe 
in public—where the subscription can be defended as 
an investment. 

In a new country, character is essential; in the old, 
reputation is sufficient. In the new, they find what a 
man really is; in the old, he generally passes for what 
he resembles. People separated only by distance are 
much nearer together than those divided by the walls 
of caste. 

It is no advantage to live in a great city, where pov¬ 
erty degrades and failure brings despair. The fields 
are lovelier than paved streets, and the great forests 
than walls of brick. Oaks and elms are more poetic 
than steeples and chimneys. 

In the country is the idea of home. There you see 
the rising and setting sun; you become acquainted 
with the stars and clouds. The constellations are your 
friends. You hear the rain on the roof and listen to 
the rhythmic sighing of the winds. You are thrilled 
by the resurrection called Spring, touched and saddened 
by Autumn—the grace and poetry of death. Every 
field is a picture, a landscape; every landscape a poem; 
every flower a tender thought, and every forest a fairy- 


LINCOLN 


285 


land. In the country you preserve your identity—your 
personality. There you are an aggregation of atoms, 
but in the city you are only an atom of an aggregation. 

In the country you keep your cheek close to the 
breast of Nature. You are calmed and ennobled by 
the space, the amplitude and scope of earth and sky— 
by the constancy of the stars. 

Lincoln never finished his education. To the night 
of his death he was a pupil, a learner, an inquirer, a 
seeker after knowledge. You have no idea how many 
men are spoiled by what is called education. For the 
most part, colleges are places where pebbles are pol¬ 
ished and diamonds are dimmed. If Shakespeare had 
graduated at Oxford, he might have been a quibbling 
attorney, or a hypocritical parson. 

Lincoln was a great lawyer. There is nothing 
shrewder in this world than intelligent honesty. Per¬ 
fect candor is sword and shield. 

He understood the nature of man. As a lawyer he 
endeavored to get at the truth, at the very heart of a 
case. He was not willing even to deceive himself. No 
matter what his interest said, what his passion de¬ 
manded, he was great enough to find the truth and 
strong enough to pronounce judgment against his own 
desires. 

Lincoln was a many-sided man, acquainted with 
smiles and tears, complex in brain, single in heart, 
direct as light; and his words, candid as mirrors, gave 
the perfect image of his thought. He was never afraid 
to ask—never too dignified to admit that he did not 
know. No man had keener wit, or kinder humor. 

It may be that* humor is the pilot of reason. Peo¬ 
ple without humor drift unconsciously into absurdity. 


286 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Humor sees the other side—stands in the mind like a 
spectator, a good-natured critic, and gives its opinion 
before judgment is reached. Humor goes with good 
nature, and good nature is the climate of reason. In 
anger, reason abdicates and malice extinguishes the 
torch. Such was the humor of Lincoln that he could 
tell even unpleasant truths as charmingly as most men 
can tell the things we wish to hear. 

He was not solemn. Solemnity is a mask worn by 
ignorance and hypocrisy—it is the preface, prologue, 
and index to the cunning or the stupid. 

He was natural in his life and thought—master of 
the story-teller’s art, in illustration apt, in application 
perfect, liberal in speech, shocking Pharisees and 
prudes, using any word that wit could disinfect. 

He was a logician. His logic shed light. In its 
presence the obscure became luminous, and the most 
complex and intricate political and metaphysical knots 
seemed to untie themselves. Logic is the necessary 
product of intelligence and sincerity. It cannot be 
learned. It is the child of a clear head and a good 
heart. 

Lincoln was candid, and with candor often deceived 
the deceitful. He had intellect without arrogance, gen¬ 
ius without pride, and religion without cant—that is 
to say, without bigotry and without deceit. 

He was an orator—clear, sincere, natural. He did 
not pretend. He did not say what he thought others 
thought, but what he thought. 

If you wish to be sublime you must be natural—you 
must keep close to the grass. You must sit by the fire¬ 
side of the heart; above the clouds it is too cold. You 
must be simple in your speech; too much polish sug¬ 
gests insincerity. 


LINCOLN 


287 


The great orator idealizes the real, transfigures the 
common, makes even the inanimate throb and thrill, 
fills the gallery of the imagination with statues and pic¬ 
tures perfect in form and color, brings to light the gold 
hoarded by memory the miser, shows the glittering coin 
to the spendthrift hope, enriches the brain, ennobles 
the heart, and quickens the conscience. Between his 
lips words bud and blossom. If you wish to know 
the difference between an orator and an elocutionist— 
between what is felt and what is said—between what 
the heart and brain can do together and what the brain 
can do alone—read Lincoln’s wondrous speech at Get¬ 
tysburg, and then the oration of Edward Everett. 

The speech of Lincoln will never be forgotten. It 
will live until languages are dead and lips are dust. 
The oration of Everett will never be read. 

The elocutionists believe in the virtue of voice, the 
sublimity of syntax, the majesty of long sentences, and 
the genius of gesture. 

The orator loves the real, the simple, the natural. 
He places the thought above all. He knows that the 
greatest ideas should be expressed in the shortest words 
—that the greatest statues need the least drapery. 

Lincoln was an immense personality—firm but not 
obstinate. Obstinacy is egotism—firmness, heroism. 
He influenced others without effort, unconsciously; 
and they submitted to him as men submit to nature— 
unconsciously. He was severe with himself, and for 
that reason lenient with others. 

He appeared to apologize for being kinder than his 
fellows. 

He did merciful things as stealthily as others com¬ 
mitted crimes. 


288 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Almost ashamed of tenderness, he said and did the 
noblest words and deeds with that charming confusion, 
that awkwardness, that is the perfect grace of modesty. 

As a noble man, wishing to pay a small debt to a 
poor neighbor, reluctantly offers a hundred-dollar bill 
and asks for change, fearing that he may be suspected 
either of making a display of wealth or a pretence of 
payment, so Lincoln hesitated to show his wealth of 
goodness, even to the best he knew. 

A great man stooping, not wishing to make his fel¬ 
lows feel that they were small or mean. 

By his candor, by his kindness, by his perfect free¬ 
dom from restraint, by saying what he thought, and 
saying it absolutely in his own way, he made it not 
only possible, but popular, to be natural. He was the 
enemy of mock solemnity, of the stupidly respectable, 
of the cold and formal. 

He wore no official robes either on his body or his 
soul. He never pretended to be more or less, or other, 
or different, from what he really was. He had the un¬ 
conscious naturalness of Nature’s self. 

He built upon the rock. The foundation was secure 
and broad. The structure was a pyramid, narrowing 
as it rose. Through days and nights of sorrow, through 
years of grief and pain, with unswerving purpose, “with 
malice toward none, with charity for all,” with infinite 
patience, with unclouded vision, he hoped and toiled. 
Stone after stone was laid, until at last the Proclama¬ 
tion found its place. On that the Goddess stands. 

He knew others, because perfectly acquainted with 
himself. Pie cared nothing for place, but everything 
for principle; little for money, but everything for in¬ 
dependence. Where no principle was involved, easily 


LINCOLN 


289 


swayed—willing to go slowly, if in the right direc¬ 
tion, sometimes willing to stop; but he would not go 
back, and he would not go wrong. 

He was willing to wait. He knew that the event was 
not waiting, and that fate was not the fool of chance. 
He knew that slavery had defenders, but no defence, 
and that they who attack the right must wound them¬ 
selves. He was neither tyrant nor slave. He neither 
knelt nor scorned. With him, men were neither great 
nor small—they were right or wrong. 

Through manners, clothes, titles, rags and race he 
saw the real—that which is. Beyond accident, policy, 
compromise and war he saw the end. 

He was patient as destiny, whose undecipherable 
hieroglyphs were so deeply graven on his sad and 
tragic face. 

Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. 
It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can 
bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man 
really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. 
It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute 
power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy. 

Wealth could not purchase, power could not save, 
this divine, this loving man. 

He knew no fear except the fear of doing wrong. 
Hating slavery, pitying the master—seeking to conquer, 
not persons, but prejudices—he was the embodiment of 
the self-denial, the courage, the hope and the nobility 
of a nation. 

He spoke not to inflame, not to upbraid, but to 
convince. 

He raised his hands, not to strike, but in benediction. 

He longed to pardon. 


290 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


He loved to see the pearls of joy on the cheeks of a 
wife whose husband he had rescued from death. 

Lincoln was the grandest figure of the fiercest civil 
war. He is the gentlest memory of our world. 

A MAN INSPIRED OF GOD* 

By Plenry Watterson 

Amid the noise and confusion, the clashing of intel¬ 
lects like sabres bright, and the booming of the big ora¬ 
torical guns of the North and the South, now definitely 
arrayed, there came one day into the Northern camp 
one of the oddest figures imaginable; the figure of a 
man who, in spite of an appearance somewhat at outs 
with Hogarth’s line of beauty, wore a serious aspect, 
if not an air of command, and, pausing to utter a sin¬ 
gle sentence that might be heard above the din, passed 
on and for a moment disappeared. The sentence was 
pregnant with meaning. The man bore a commission 
from God on High! He said: “A house divided 
against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government 
cannot endure permanently half free and half slave! 
I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not 
expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease 
to be divided.” Pie was Abraham Lincoln. 

How shall I describe him to you? Shall I speak of 
him as I first saw him immediately on his arrival in 
the national capital, the chosen President of the United 
States, his appearance quite as strange as the story 
of his life, which was then but half known and half 
told, or shall I use the words of another and more 
graphic word-painter? 

^Copyrighted. Permission to use granted by E. P. Duffield & Co. 



LINCOLN 


291 


In January, 1861, Colonel A. K. McClure, of Penn¬ 
sylvania, journeyed to Springfield, Ill., to meet and con¬ 
fer with the man he had done so much to elect, but 
whom he had never personally known. “I went directly 
from the depot to Lincoln’s house,” says Colonel Mc¬ 
Clure, “and rang the bell, which was answered by Lin¬ 
coln himself opening the door. I doubt whether I 
wholly concealed my disappointment at meeting him. 
Tall, gaunt, ungainly, ill-clad, with a homeliness of man¬ 
ner that was unique in itself, I confess that my heart 
sank within me as I remembered that this was the 
man chosen by a great nation to become its ruler in the 
gravest period of its history. I remember his dress as 
if it were but yesterday—snuff-colored and slouchy 
pantaloons; open black vest, held by a few brass but¬ 
tons; straight or evening dress-coat, with tightly fit¬ 
ting sleeves to exaggerate his long, bony arms; all sup¬ 
plemented by an awkwardness that was uncommon 
among men of intelligence. Such was the picture I 
met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. We sat down 
in his plainly furnished parlor, and were uninterrupted 
during the nearly four hours I remained with him, 
and, little by little, as his earnestness, sincerity, and 
candor were developed in conversation, I forgot all the 
grotesque qualities which so confounded me when I first 
greeted him. Before half an hour had passed I learned 
not only to respect, but, indeed, to reverence the man.” 

A graphic portrait, truly, and not unlike. I recall 
him, two months later, a little less uncouth, a little 
better dressed, but in singularity and in angularity 
much the same. All the world now takes an interest 
in every detail that concerned him, or that relates to 
the weird tragedy of his life and death. 


292 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Two or three years ago I referred to Abraham Lin¬ 
coln—in a casual way—as one “inspired of God.’' I 
was taken to task for this and thrown upon my defence. 
Knowing less then than I now know of Mr. Lincoln, 

I confined myself to the superficial aspects of the case: 
to the career of a man who seemed to have lacked the 
opportunity to prepare himself for the great estate .to 
which he had come, plucked as it were from obscurity 
by a caprice of fortune. 

Accepting the doctrine of inspiration as a law of the 
universe, I still stand to this belief; but I must qualify 
it as far as it conveys the idea that Mr. Lincoln was 
not as well equipped in actual knowledge of men and 
affairs as any of his contemporaries. Mr. Webster 
once said that he had been preparing to make his reply 
to Hayne for thirty years. Mr. Lincoln had been in 
unconscious training for the Presidency for thirty years. 
Plis maiden address as a candidate for the Legislature, 
issued at the ripe old age of twenty-three, closes with 
these words, “But if the good people in their wisdom 
shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been 
too familiar with disappointment to be very much cha¬ 
grined.” The man who wrote that sentence, thirty years 
later wrote this sentence: “The mystic chords of mem¬ 
ory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave 
to every living heart and hearthstone all over this 
broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when 
again touched, as surely they will be, by the better an¬ 
gels of our nature.” Between those two sentences, 
joined by a kindred, sombre thought, flowed a life- 
current, “strong, without age, without o’er flowing, 
full,” pausing never for an instant; deepening while 



LINCOLN 


293 


it ran, but nowise changing its course or its tones; 
always the same; calm; patient; affectionate; like one 
born to a destiny, and, as in a dream, feeling its re¬ 
sistless force. 

I met the newly elected President the afternoon of 
the day in the early morning of which he had arrived 
in Washington. It was a Saturday, I think. He came 
to the Capitol under Mr. Seward’s escort, and, among 
the rest, I was presented to him. His appearance did 
not impress me as fantastically as it had impressed 
Colonel McClure. I was more familiar with the West¬ 
ern type than Colonel McClure, and while Mr. Lincoln 
was certainly not an Adonis, even after prairie ideals, 
there was about him a dignity that commanded respect. 

I met him again the forenoon of March 4 in his 
apartment at Willards Llotel as he was preparing to 
start to his inauguration, and was touched by his un¬ 
affected kindness; for I came with a matter requiring 
his immediate attention. He was entirely self-pos¬ 
sessed; no trace of nervousness; and very obliging. I 
accompanied the cortege that passed from the Senate 
chamber to the vast portico of the Capitol, and, as Mr. 
Lincoln removed his hat to face the vast multitude in 
front and below, I extended my hand to receive it, but 
Judge Douglas, just beside me, reached over my out¬ 
stretched arm and took the hat, holding it throughout 
the delivery of the inaugural address. I stood near 
enough to the speaker’s elbow not to obstruct any ges¬ 
tures he might make, though he made but few; and 
then it was that I began to comprehend something of 
the power of the man. 

He delivered that inaugural address as if he had been 
delivering inaugural addresses all his life. Firm, reso- 


294 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


nant, earnest, it announced the coming of a man; of a 
leader of men; and in its ringing tones and elevated 
style, the gentlemen he had invited to become members 
of his political family—each of whom thought himself 
a bigger man than his master—might have heard the 
voice and seen the hand of a man born to command. 
Whether they did or not, they very soon ascertained 
the fact. From the hour Abraham Lincoln crossed 
the threshold of the White House to the hour he went 
thence to his death, there was not a moment when he 
did not dominate the political and military situation 
and all his official subordinates. 

Always courteous, always tolerant, always making 
allowance, yet always explicit, his was the master spirit, 
his the guiding hand; committing to each of the mem¬ 
bers of his Cabinet the details of the work of his own 
department; caring nothing for petty sovereignty; but 
reserving to himself all that related to great politics, 
the starting of moral forces and the moving of organ¬ 
ized ideas. 

I want to say just here a few words about Mr. Lin¬ 
coln’s relation to the South and the people of the South. 

He was, himself, a Southern man. He and all his 
tribe were Southerners. Although he left Kentucky 
when but a child, he was an old child; he never was 
very young; and he grew to manhood in a Kentucky 
colony; for what was Illinois in those days but a Ken¬ 
tucky colony, grown since somewhat out of proportion? 
He was in no sense what we in the South used to call 
“a poor white.” Awkward, perhaps; ungainly, but 
aspiring; the spirit of a hero beneath that rugged ex¬ 
terior; the soul of a prose-poet behind those heavy 
brows; the courage of ajion back of those patient, 


LINCOLN 


295 


kindly aspects; and, before he was of legal age, a leader 
of men. His first love was a Rutledge; his wife was 
a Todd. 

Let the romancist tell the story of his romance. I 
dare not. No sadder idyl can be found in all the short 
and simple annals of the poor. 

We know that he was a prose-poet; for have we not 
that immortal prose-poem recited at Gettysburg? We 
know that he was a statesman; for has not time vin¬ 
dicated his conclusions? But the South does not know, 
except as a kind of hearsay, that he was a friend; the 
sole friend who had the power and the will to save it 
from itself. He was the one man in public life who 
could have come to the head of affairs in 1861, bring¬ 
ing with him none of the embittered resentments grow¬ 
ing out of the anti-slavery battle. While Seward, 
Chase, Sumner, and the rest had been engaged in hand- 
to-hand combat with the Southern leaders at Wash¬ 
ington, Lincoln, a philosopher and a statesman, had 
been observing the course of events from afar, and 
like a philosopher and a statesman. The direct blow 
that could have been laid upon the prostrate South was 
delivered by the assassin’s bullet that struck him down. 

But I digress. Throughout the contention that pre¬ 
ceded the war, amid the passions that attended the war 
itself, not one bitter, proscriptive word escaped the lips 
of Abraham Lincoln, while there was hardly a day 
that he was not projecting his great personality be¬ 
tween some Southern man or woman and danger. 

Under date of February 2, 1848, from the hall of 
the House of Representatives at Washington, while he 
was serving as a member of Congress, he wrote this 
short note to his law partner at Springfield: 


296 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


“Dear William: I take up my pen to tell you that 
Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, a little, slim, palefaced, con¬ 
sumptive man, with a voice like Logan's" (that was 
Stephen T., not John A.), “has just concluded the very 
best speech of an hour's length I ever heard. My old, 
withered, dry eyes" he was then not quite thirty-nine 
years of age) “are full of tears yet." 

From that time forward he never ceased to love Ste¬ 
phens, of Georgia. 

After that famous Hampton Roads conference, when 
the Confederate Commissioners, Stephens, Campbell, 
and Hunter, had traversed the field of official routine 
with Mr. Lincoln, the President, and Mr. Seward, the 
Secretary of State, Lincoln, the friend, still the old 
Whig colleague, though one was now President of the 
United States and the other Vice-President of the 
Southern Confederacy, took the “slim, palefaced, con¬ 
sumptive man" aside, and pointing to a sheet of paper 
he held in his hand, said: “Stephens, let me write 
‘Union' at the top of that page, and you may write 
below it whatever else you please." 

In the preceding conversation Mr. Lincoln had inti¬ 
mated that payment for the slaves was not outside a 
possible agreement for re-union and peace. He based 
that statement upon a plan he already had in hand, to 
appropriate four hundred millions of dollars to this 
purpose. 

There are those who have put themselves to the 
pains of challenging this statement of mine. It admits 
of no possible equivocation. Mr. Lincoln carried with 
him to Fort Monroe two documents that still stand in 
his own handwriting; one of them a joint resolution 
to be passed by the two Houses of Congress appropri- 


LINCOLN 


297 


ating the four hundred millions, the other a proclama¬ 
tion to be issued by himself, as President, when the 
joint resolution had been passed. These formed no 
part of the discussion at Hampton Roads, because Mr. 
Stephens told Mr. Lincoln they were limited to treat¬ 
ing upon the basis of the recognition of the Confed¬ 
eracy, and to all intents and purposes the conference 
died before it was actually born. But Mr. Lincoln was 
so filled with the idea that next day, when he had re¬ 
turned to Washington, he submitted the two documents 
to the members of his Cabinet. Excepting Mr. Seward, 
they were all against him. He said: “Why, gentle¬ 
men, how long is the war going to last ? It is not going 
to end this side of a hundred days, is it? It is costing 
us four millions a day. There are the four hundred 
millions, not counting the loss of life and property in 
the meantime. But you are all against me, and I will 
not press the matter upon you.” I have not cited this 
fact of history to attack, or even to criticize, the policy 
of the Confederate Government, but simply to illustrate 
the wise magnanimity and justice of the character of 
Abraham Lincoln. For my part, I rejoice that the war 
did not end at Fort Monroe—or any other conference— 
but that it was fought out to its bitter and logical con¬ 
clusion at Appomattox. 

It was the will of God that there should be, as God’s 
own prophet had promised, “a new birth of freedom,” 
and this could only be reached by the obliteration of 
the very idea of slavery. God struck Lincoln down in 
the moment of his triumph, to attain it; he blighted 
the South to attain it. But he did attain it. And here 
we are this night to attest it. God’s will be done on 
earth as it is done in heaven. But let no Southern man 


298 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


point finger at me because I canonize Abraham Lin¬ 
coln, for he was the one friend we had at court when 
friends were most in need; he was the one man in 
power who wanted to preserve us intact, to save us 
from the wolves of passion and plunder that stood at 
our door; and as that of God, of whom it has been 
said that “whom he loveth he chasteneth,” meant that 
the South should be chastened. Lincoln was put out 
of the way by the bullet of an assassin having neither 
lot nor parcel, North or South, but a winged emissary 
of fate, flown from the shadows of the mystic world 
which Aeschylus and Shakespeare created and conse¬ 
crated to tragedy! 

One thinks now that the world in which Abraham 
Lincoln lived might have dealt more gently by such a 
man. He was himself so gentle—so upright in nature 
and so broad of mind—so sunny and so tolerant in tem¬ 
per—so simple and so unaffected in bearing—a rude 
exterior covering an undaunted spirit, proving by his 
every act and word that— 

The bravest are the tenderest, 

The loving are the daring. 

Though he was a party leader, he was a typical and 
patriotic American, in whom even his enemies might 
have found something to respect and admire. But it 
could not be so. He committed one grievous offence; 
he dared to think and he was not afraid to speak; he 
was far in advance of his party and his time; and men 
are slow to forgive what they do not readily understand. 

Yet, all the while that the waves of passion were 
breaking against his sturdy figure, reared above the 
dead level, as a lone oak upon a sandy beach, not one 
harsh word rankled in his heart to sour the milk of 


LINCOLN 


299 


human kindness that, like a perennial spring from the 
gnarled roots of some majestic tree, flowed thence. He 
would smooth over a rough place in his official inter¬ 
course with a funny story fitting the case in point, and 
they called him a trifler. He would round off a logical 
argument with a familiar example, hitting the nail 
squarely on the head and driving it home, and they 
called him a buffoon. Big wigs and little wigs were 
agreed that he lowered the dignity of debate; as if 
debates were intended to mystify, and not to clarify 
truth. Yet he went on and on, and never backward, 
until his time was come, when his genius, fully ripened, 
rose to emergencies. Where did he get his style? Ask 
Shakespeare and Burns where they got their style. 
Where did he get his grasp upon affairs and his knowl¬ 
edge of men? Ask the Lord God who created miracles 
in Luther and Bonaparte! 

What was the mysterious power of this mysterious 
man, and whence? His was the genius of common 
sense; of common sense in action; of common sense in 
thought; of common sense enriched by experience and 
unhindered by fear. “He was a common man,” says 
his friend, Joshua Speed, “expanded into giant propor¬ 
tions; well acquainted with the people, he placed his 
hand on the beating pulse of the nation, judged of its 
disease, and was ready with a remedy.” Inspired he 
was truly, as Shakespeare was inspired; as Mozart was 
inspired; as Burns was inspired; each, like him, sprung 
directly from the people. 

I look into the crystal globe that, slowly turning, tells 
the story of his life, and I see a little heart-broken boy, 
weeping by the outstretched form of a dead mother, 
then bravely, nobly trudging a hundred miles to obtain 


300 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


her Christian burial. I sec this motherless lad growing 
to manhood amid scenes that seem to lead to nothing 
but abasement; no teachers; no books; no chart, ex¬ 
cept his own untutored mind; no compass, except his 
own undisciplined will; no light, save light from Heav¬ 
en; yet, like the caravel of Columbus, struggling on and 
on through the trough of the sea, always toward the 
destined land. I see the full-grown man, stalwart and 
brave, an athlete in activity of movement and strength 
of limb, yet vexed by weird dreams and visions; of life, 
of love, of religion, sometimes verging on despair. I 
see the mind, grown at length as robust as the body, 
throw off these phantoms of the imagination and give 
itself wholly to the workaday uses of the world; the 
rearing of children; the earning of bread; the multi¬ 
plied duties of life. I see the party leader, self-confi¬ 
dent in conscious rectitude; original, because it was not 
his nature to follow; potent, because he was fearless, 
pursuing his convictions with earnest zeal, and urging 
them upon his fellows with the resources of an oratory 
which was hardly more impressive than it was many- 
sided. I see him, the preferred among his fellows, as¬ 
cend the eminence reserved for him, and him alone of 
all the statesmen of the time, amid the derision of op¬ 
ponents and the distrust of supporters, yet unawed and 
unmoved, because thoroughly equipped to meet the emer¬ 
gency. The same being, from first to last; the poor 
child weeping over a dead mother; the great chief sob¬ 
bing amid the cruel horrors of war ; flinching never 
from duty, nor changing his lifelong ways of dealing 
with the stern realities which pressed upon him and 
hurried him onward. And, last scene of all, that ends 
this strange, eventful history. I see him lying dead 


LINCOLN 


301 


there in the Capitol of the nation to which he had ren¬ 
dered “the last full measure of devotion,” the flag of 
his country around him, the world in mourning, and, 
asking myself how could any man have hated that man, 
I ask you, how can any man refuse his homage to his 
memory? Surely, he was one of God’s own; not in any 
sense a creature of circumstance or accident. Recur¬ 
ring to the doctrine of inspiration. I say, again and 
again, he was inspired of God, and I cannot see how 
any one who believes in that doctrine can believe him 
as anything else. 

From Caesar to Bismarck and Gladstone the world 
has had its statesmen and its soldiers—men who rose 
from obscurity to eminence and power step by step, 
through a series of geometric progression as it were, 
each advancement following in regular order one after 
the other, the whole obedient to well-established and 
well-understood laws of cause and effect. They were 
not what we call “men of destiny.” They were “'men 
of the time.” They were men whose careers had a be¬ 
ginning, a middle, and an end, rounding off lives with 
histories, full it may be of interesting and exciting 
event, but comprehensive and comprehensible; sim¬ 
ple, clear, complete. 

The inspired ones are fewer. Whence their emana¬ 
tion, where and how they got their power, by what rule 
they lived, moved, and had their being, we know not. 
There is no explication to their lives. They rose from 
shadow and they went in mist. We see them, feel them, 
but we know them not. They came, God’s word upon 
their lips; they did their office, God’s mantle about 
them; and they vanished, God’s holy light between the 
world and them, leaving behind a memory, half mortal 


302 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


and half myth. From first to last they were the crea¬ 
tions of some special Providence, baffling the wit of 
man to fathom, defeating the machinations of the 
world, the flesh, and the devil, until their work was 
done, then passing from the scene as mysteriously as 
they had come upon it. 

Tried by this standard, where shall we find an ex¬ 
ample so impressive as Abraham Lincoln, whose career 
might be chanted by a Greek chorus as at once the pre¬ 
lude and the epilogue of the most imperial home of 
modern times? 

Born as lowly as the Son of God, in a hovel; reared 
in penury, squalor, with no gleam of light or fair sur¬ 
rounding; with graces, actual or acquired; without name 
or fame or official training; it was reserved for this 
strange being, late in life, to be snatched from obscur¬ 
ity, raised to supreme command at a supreme moment, 
and intrusted with the destiny of a nation. 

The great leaders of his party, the most experienced 
and accomplished public men of the day, were made to 
stand aside; were sent to the rear, while this fantastic 
figure was led by unseen hands to the front and given 
the reins of power. It is immaterial whether we were 
for him or against him; wholly immaterial. That, dur¬ 
ing four years, carrying with them such a weight of 
responsibility as the world never witnessed before, he 
filled the cast space allotted him in the eyes and actions 
of mankind, is to say that he was inspired of God, for 
nowhere else could he have acquired the wisdom and 
the virtue. 

Where did Shakespeare get his genius? Where did 
Mozart get his music? Whose hand smote the lyre of 
the Scottish ploughman, and stayed the life of the Ger- 


LINCOLN 


303 


man priest? God, God, and God alone; and as surely 
as these were raised up by God, inspired by God, was 
Abraham Lincoln; and a thousand years hence, no 
drama, no tragedy, no epic poem will be filled with 
greater wonder, or be followed by mankind with deeper 
feeling than that which tells the story of his life and 
death. 


JOHN BURNS OF GETTYSBURG* 

By Bret Harte 

Have you heard the story that gossips tell 
Of Burns of Gettysburg?—No? Ah, well: 
Brief is the glory that hero earns, 

Briefer the story of poor John Burns. 

He was the fellow who won renown,— 

The only man who didn’t back down 

When the rebels rode through his native town; 

But held his own in the fight next day, 

When all his townsfolk ran away. 

That was in July sixty-three, 

The very day that General Lee, 

Flower of Southern chivalry, 

Baffled and beaten, backward reeled 
From a stubborn Meade and a barren field. 

I might tell how but the day before 
John Burns stood at his cottage door, 

Looking down the village street, 

Where, in the shade of his peaceful vine, 

He heard the low of his gathered kine, 

And felt their breath with incense sweet; 


Used by permission of Houghton, Mifflin Company. 



304 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Or I might say, when the sunset burned 
The old farm gable, he thought it turned 
The milk that fell like a babbling flood 
Into the milk-pail red as blood! 

Or how he fancied the hum of bees 
Were bullets buzzing among the trees. 

But all such fanciful thoughts as these 
Were strange to a practical man like Burns, 
Who minded only his own concerns, 

Troubled no more by fancies fine 

Than one of his calm-eyed, long-tailed kine,— 

Quite old-fashioned and matter-of-fact, 

Slow to argue, but quick to act. 

That was the reason, as some folk say, 

He fought so well on that terrible day. 

And it was terrible. On the right 
Raged for hours the deadly fight, 

Thundered the battery’s double bass,— 
Difficult music for men to face; 

While on the left—where now the graves 
Undulate like the living waves 
That all that day unceasing swept 
Up to the pits the rebels kept— 

Round shot ploughed the upland glades, 

Sown with bullets, reaped with blades; 
Shattered fences here and there 
Tossed their splinters in the air; 

The very trees were stripped and bare; 

The barns that once held yellow grain 
Were heaped with harvests of the slain; 

The cattle bellowed on the plain, 

The turkeys screamed with might and main; 



JOHN BURNS OF GETTYSBURG 305 


And brooding barn-fowl left their rest 
With strange shells bursting in each nest. 

Just where the tide of battle turns, 

Erect and lonely stood old John Burns. 

How do you think the man was dressed? 

He wore an ancient long buff vest, 

Yellow as saffron,—but his best; 

And buttoned over his manly breast 

Was a bright blue coat, with a rolling collar, 

And large gilt buttons,—size of a dollar,— 

With tails that the country-folk called “swaller.” 
Fie wore a broad-brimmed, bell-crowned hat, 
White as the locks on which it sat. 

Never had such a sight been seen 
For forty years on the village green, 

Since old John Burns was a country beau, 

And went to the “quiltings” long ago. 

Close at his elbows all that day, 

Veterans of the Peninsula, 

Sunburnt and bearded, charged away; 

And striplings, downy of lip and chin,— 

Clerks that the Home Guard mustered in,— 
Glanced, as they passed, at the hat he wore, 

Then at the rifle his right hand bore, 

And hailed him, from out their youthful lore, 
With scraps of a slangy repertoire: 

“How are you, White Hat?” “Put her through!” 
“Your head’s level!” and “Bully for you!” 

Called him “Daddy,”—begged he’d disclose 
The name of the tailor who made his clothes, 

And what was the value he set on those; 

While Burns, unmindful of jeer and scoff, 


306 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Stood there picking the rebels off,— 

With his long brown rifle and bell-crown hat, 

And the swallow-tails they were laughing at. 

’T was but a moment, for that respect 
Which clothes all courage their voices checked; 
And something the wildest could understand 
Spake in the old man’s strong right hand, 

And his corded throat, and the lurking frown 
Of his eyebrows under his old bell-crown; 

Until, as they gazed, there crept an awe 
Through the ranks in whispers, and some men saw, 
In the antique vestments and long white hair, 
The Past of the Nation in battle there; 

And some of the soldiers since declare 
That the gleam of his old white hat afar, 

Like the crested plume of the brave Navarre, 

That day was their oriflamme of war. 

So raged the battle. You know the rest; 

And the rebels, beaten and backward pressed, 
Broke at the final charge and ran. 

At which John Burns—a practical man— 
Shouldered his rifle, unbent his brows, 

And then went back to his bees and cows. 

That is the story of old John Burns; 

This is the moral the reader learns: 

In fighting the battle, the question’s whether 
You’ll .show a hat that’s white, or a feather! 

—Bret Harte , 


LINCOLN 


307 


GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 
By Abraham Lincoln 
November 19, 1863 

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought 
forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in lib¬ 
erty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are 
created equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing 
whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so 
dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great 
battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a 
portion of that field as a final resting place for those 
who here gave their lives that that nation might live. 
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

But, in a larger sense we cannot dedicate—we can¬ 
not consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The 
brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have 
consecrated it far above our poor power to add or de¬ 
tract. The world will little note nor long remember 
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did 
here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated 
here to the unfinished work which they who fought here 
have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us 
to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before 
us—that from these honored dead we take increased 
devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full 
measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that 
these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, 
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that 
government of the people, by the people, for the people, 
shall not perish from the earth. 


308 * PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

ORDER FOR SABBATH OBSERVANCE 
By Abraham Lincoln 
November 15, 1862 

The President, commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the 
Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and 
naval service. The importance for man and beast of 
the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Chris¬ 
tian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the 
best sentiment of a Christian people, and a due regard 
for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the 
army and navy be reduced to the measure of strict ne¬ 
cessity. The discipline and character of the national 
forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be 
imperiled, by the profanation of the day or the name 
of the Most High. “At this time of public distress”—• 
adopting the words of Washington in 1776—“men may 
find enough to do in the service of God and their coun¬ 
try without abandoning themselves to vice and immor¬ 
ality.” The first general order issued by the Father 
of his Country after the Declaration of Independence 
indicates the spirit in which our institutions were found¬ 
ed and should ever be defended. “The general hopes 
and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to 
live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending 
the dearest rights and liberties of his country.” 


LINCOLN 


309 


REMARKS ON TEMPERANCE IN THE ARMY 
TO A DELEGATION OF THE SONS 
OF TEMPERANCE 

By Abraham Lincoln 

September 29, 1863 

When I was a young man—long ago—before the 
Sons of Temperance as an organization had an exist¬ 
ence—I, in a humble way, made temperance speeches, 
and I think I may say that to this day I have never, by 
my example, belied what I then said. 

In regard to the suggestions which you make for 
the purpose of the advancement of the cause of tem¬ 
perance in the army, I cannot make particular responses 
to them at this time. To prevent intemperance in the 
army is even a part of the articles of war. It is part 
of the law of the land, and was so, I presume, long ago, 
to dismiss officers for drunkenness. 


I think that the reasonable men of the World have 
long since agreed that intemperance is one of the great¬ 
est, if not the very greatest, of all evils among man¬ 
kind. That is not a matter of dispute, I believe. That 
the disease exists, and that it is a very great one, is 
agreed upon by all. 

The mode of cure is one about which there may 
be differences of opinion. You have suggested that in 
an army—our army—drunkenness is a great evil, and 
one which, while it exists to a very great extent, we 
cannot expect to overcome so entirely as to have such 
successes in our arms as we might without it. This 
undoubtedly is true, and while it is perhaps rather a 



310 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


bad source to derive comfort from, nevertheless, in a 
hard struggle, I do not know but what it is some con¬ 
solation to be aware that there is some intemperance on 
the other side, too; and that they have no right to beat 
us in physical combat on that ground. 


REMARKS TO TWELFTH INDIANA REGI¬ 
MENT ON THE NATION’S DEPEND¬ 
ENCE ON THE ARMY 

May 15, 1862 

It has not been customary heretofore, nor will it be 
hereafter, for me to say something to every regiment 
passing in review. It occurs too frequently for me to 
have speeches ready on all occasions. As you have paid 
such a mark of respect to the chief magistrate, it ap¬ 
pears that I should say a word or two in reply. 

Your Colonel has thought fit, on his own account 
and in your name, to say that you are satisfied with the 
manner in which I have performed my part in the dif¬ 
ficulties which have surrounded the nation. For your 
kind expressions I am exceedingly grateful, but, on the 
other hand, I assure you that the nation is more in¬ 
debted to you and such as you, than to me. It is upon 
the brave hearts and strong arms of the people of the 
Country that our reliance has been placed in support of 
free government and free institutions. 

For the part which you and the brave army of which 
you are a part have, under Providence, performed in 
this great struggle, I tender more thanks—greatest 
thanks that can be possibly due—and especially to this 
regiment, which has been the subject of good report. 


LINCOLN 


311 


I he thanks of the nation will follow you, and may 
God's blessings rest upon you now and forever. I hope 
that upon your return to your homes you will find your 
friends and loved ones well and happy. 1 bid you fare¬ 
well. 


LETTER TO HORACE GREELEY 

Executive Mansion, Washington, 
August 22, 1862. 

Hon. Llorace Greeley.—Dear Sir: I have just read 
yours of the 19th, addressed to myself through the New 
York Tribune. If there be in it any statements or as¬ 
sumptions of fact which 1 may know to be erroneous, 
I do not now and here controvert them. If there be 
in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely 
drawn, I do not now and here argue against them. If 
there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial 
tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose 
heart I have always supposed to be right. 

As to the policy I “seem to be pursuing/' as you say, 
I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. 

1 would save the Union. I would save it in the 
shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the 
National authority can be restored, the nearer the Un¬ 
ion will be “The Union as it was." If there be those 
who would not save the Union unless they could at 
the same time destroy Slavery, I do not agree with 
them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save 
the Union and is not either to save or destroy Slavery. 
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I 
would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the 


312 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing 
some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. 
What I do about Slavery and the colored race, I do 
because I believe it helps to save this Union; and what 
I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would 
help to save the Union. I shall do less, whenever I 
shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause; and I 
shall do more, whenever I shall believe doing more 
will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when 
shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so 
fast as they shall appear to be true views. I have here 
stated my purpose according to my view of official duty, 
and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed per¬ 
sonal wish that all men, everywhere, could be free. 

Yours, 

A. LINCOLN. 

TO CITIZENS OF FREDERICK, MARYLAND 
October 4, 1862 

I see myself surrounded by soldiers and by citizens 
of this good city of Frederick, all anxious to hear some¬ 
thing from me. Nevertheless, I can only say—as I did 
elsewhere five minutes ago—that it is not proper for 
me to make a speech in my present position. I return 
thanks to our gallant soldiers for the good service they 
have rendered, the energies they have shown, the hard¬ 
ships they have endured, and the blood they have so 
nobly shed for this dear Union of ours, and I also re¬ 
turn thanks, not only to the soldiers, but to the good 
citizens of Frederick and to all the good men, women 
and children throughout the land for their devotion to 
our glorious cause, and I say this without any malice 


LINCOLN 


313 


in my heart to those who have done otherwise. May 
our children and our children’s children for a thousand 
generations continue to enjoy the benefits conferred 
upon us by a united country and have cause yet to re¬ 
joice under those glorious institutions bequeathed us 
by Washington and his compeers! 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

PROCLAMATION FOR THANKSGIVING 
October 3, 1863 

The year that is drawing toward its close has been 
filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful 
skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly en¬ 
joyed that we are prone to forget the source from 
which they come, others have been added, which are 
of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to 
penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insen¬ 
sible to the ever-watchful providence of almighty God. 

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude 
and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign 
states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace 
has been preserved with all nations, order has been 
maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, 
and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the 
theater of military conflict; while that theater has been 
generally contracted by the advancing armies and navies 
of the Union. 

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from 
the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense 
have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the 
ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the 
mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious met- 


314 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


als, have yielded even more abundantly than hereto¬ 
fore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstand¬ 
ing the waste that has been made in the camp, the 
siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in 
the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is 
permitted to expect continuance of years with large 
increase of freedom. 

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mor¬ 
tal hand worked out these great things. They are the 
gracious gifts of the most high God, who, while deal¬ 
ing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless 
remembered mercy. 

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should 
be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged 
as with one heart and one voice by the whole Ameri¬ 
can people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in 
every part of the United States, and also those who are 
at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, 
to set apart and observe the last Thursday of No¬ 
vember next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to 
our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. 
And I recommend to them that, while offering up 
the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular 
deliverances and blessings, they do also, with hum¬ 
ble penitence for our national perverseness and dis¬ 
obedience, commend to His tender care all those who 
have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers 
in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoid¬ 
ably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition 
of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the Na¬ 
tion, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with 


LINCOLN 315 

the Divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, har¬ 
mony, tranquility, and union. 

In testimony, etc. 

By the President: A. LINCOLN. 
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, 

Secretary of State. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL 
ADDRESS 

March 4, 1865 
Fellow Countrymen: 

At this second appearing to take the oath of the Pres¬ 
idential office there is less occasion for an extended ad¬ 
dress than there was at the first. Then a statement 
somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed 
fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four 
years, during which public declarations have been con¬ 
stantly called forth on every point and phase of the 
great "contest which still absorbs the attention and en¬ 
grosses the energies of the Nation, little that is new 
could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon 
which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the 
public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satis¬ 
factory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the 
future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago 
all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending 
civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While 
the inaugural address was being delivered from this 
place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without 
war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to de¬ 
stroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union 


316 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties depre¬ 
cated war, but one of them would make war rather than 
let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war 
rather than let it perish, and the war came. 

One-eighth of the whole population were colored 
slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but 
localized in the southern part of it. These slaves con¬ 
stituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that 
this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To 
strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the 
object for which the insurgents would rend the Union 
even by war, while the Government claimed no right 
to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement 
of it. Neither party expected for the war the magni¬ 
tude or the duration which it has already attained 
Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might 
cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. 
Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less 
fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible 
and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid 
against the other. It may seem strange that any men 
should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing 
their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but 
let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers 
of both could not be answered. That of neither has 
been answered fully. The Almighty has His own pur- j 
poses. Woe unto the World because of offenses; for 
it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that ; 
man by whom the offense cometh.” If we shall sup¬ 
pose that American slavery is one of those offenses 
which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but 
which, having continued through His appointed time, 
He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both 




LINCOLN 


317 


North and South this terrible war as the woe due to 
those by whom the offense came, shall we discern there¬ 
in any departure from those divine attributes which the 
believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fond¬ 
ly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty 
scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God 
wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the 
bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited 
toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn 
with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the 
sword as was said three thousand years ago, so still it 
must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether.” 

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with 
firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, 
let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up 
the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have 
borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to 
do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting 
neace among: ourselves and with all nations. 

F ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


318 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


THE BLUE AND THE GRAY* 

F. M. Finch 

By the flow of the inland river, 

Whence the fleets of iron have fled, 

Where the blades of the gray grass quiver 
Asleep are ranks of the dead;— 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day; 

Under the one, the Blue; 

Under the other, the Gray. 

These in the robings of glory, 

Those in the gloom of defeat, 

All with the battle-blood gory, 

In the dusk of eternity meet:— 

Under the sod and dew, 

Waiting the judgment day; 

Under the laurel, the Blue; 

Under the willow, the Gray. 

From the silence of sorrowful hours 
The desolate mourners go, 

Lovingly laden with flowers, 

Alike for the friend and the foe: 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day; 

Under the roses, the Blue; 

Under the lilies, the Gray. 

So, with an equal splendor, 

The morning sun-rays fall, 


Printed by permission of Henry Holt & Company. 



THE BLUE AND THE GRAY 


319 


With a touch impartially tender, 

On the blossoms blooming for all:— 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day; 

Broidered with gold, the Blue; 

Mellowed with gold, the Gray. 

So, when the summer calleth 
On forest and field of grain, 

With an equal murmur falleth 
The cooling drip of the rain:— 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day; 

Wet with the rain, the Blue; 

Wet with the rain, the Gray. 

Sadly, but not with upbraiding, 

The generous deed was done; 

In the storm of the years that are fading 
No braver battle was won:— 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day; 

Under the blossoms, the Blue; 

Under the garlands, the Gray. 

No more shall the war-cry sever, 

Or the winding rivers be red; 

They banish our anger forever, 

When they laurel the graves of our dead:— 
Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day; 

Love and tears for the Blue, 

Tears and love for the Gray. 


320 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


STONEWALL JACKSON 
By Moses D. Hoge 

The day after the first battle of Manassas, and be¬ 
fore the history of that victory had reached Lexington 
in authentic form, a crowd had gathered around the 
post-office, awaiting with intensest interest the opening 
of the mail. In its distribution the first letter was hand¬ 
ed to the Rev. Dr. White. Recognizing at a glance the 
well-known superscription, the doctor exclaimed to those 
around him, “Now we shall know all the facts.” 

The letter was from General Jackson; but instead 
of a war bulletin, it was a simple note, inclosing a check 
for a colored Sunday-school, with an apology for his 
delay in not sending it before. Not a word about the 
conflict which had electrified a nation! Not a refer¬ 
ence to himself, beyond the fact that it had been to him 
a fatiguing day’s service! And yet that was the day 
ever memorable in his history, when he received the 
name of “Stonewall” Jackson. 

When his brigade of twenty-six hundred men had 
for hours withstood the iron tempest which broke upon 
it; when the Confederate right had been overwhelmed 
in the rush of resistless numbers, General Bee rode up 
to Jackson, and, with despairing bitterness, exclaimed, 
“General, they are beating us back!” “Then,” said 
Jackson, calm and curt, “we will give them the bayo¬ 
net.” Bee seemed to catch the inspiration of his deter¬ 
mined will; and galloping back to the broken fragments 
of his overtaxed command, exclaimed, “There is Jack- 


STONEWALL JACKSON 


321 


soil, standing like a stone wall. Rally behind the Vir¬ 
ginians!” From that time Jackson’s was known as the 
Stonewall Brigade—a name henceforth immortal, for 
the christening was baptised in the blood of its author; 
and that wall of brave hearts was, on every battle-field, 
a steadfast bulwark of their country. 

In the state where all that is mortal of this great hero 
sleeps, there is a natural bridge of rock, whose massive 
arch, fashioned in grandeur by the hand of God, springs 
lightly toward the sky, spanning a chasm into whose 
awful depths the beholder looks down bewildered and 
awe-struck. But its grandeur is not diminished be¬ 
cause tender vines clamber over its gigantic piers and 
sweet-scented flowers nestle in its crevices. Nor is the 
granite strength of Jackson’s character weakened be¬ 
cause in every throb of his heart there was a pulsation 
ineffably and exquisitely tender. The hum of bees, the 
fragrance of clover fields, the tender streaks of dawn, 
the dewy brightness of early spring, the mellow glories 
of matured autumn, all by turns charmed and tran¬ 
quillized him. The eye that flashed amid the smoke of 
battle grew soft in contemplating the beauty of a flower. 
The ear that thrilled with the thunder of the cannonade 
drank in with innocent delight the song of birds and 
the prattle of children’s voices. The voice whose sharp 
and ringing tones had so often uttered the command, 
“Give them the bayonet,” called even from foreign 
tongues terms of endearment for those lie loved; and 
the man who filled two hemispheres with his fame was 
never so happy as when he was telling the colored chil¬ 
dren of his Sabbath-school the story of the Cross. 

Standing before this statue, as in the living presence 
of the man it represents; cordially indorsing, as we do, 


322 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


the principles of the political school in which he was 
trained, and in defence of which he died, and unable 
yet to think of our dead Confederacy without memories 
unutterably tender, I speak not for myself, but for the 
South, when I say it is our interest, our duty, and de¬ 
termination to maintain the Union, and to make every 
possible contribution to its prosperity and glory, if all 
the states which compose it will unite in making it such 
a Union as our fathers framed, and enthroning above 
it the Constitution in its old supremacy. If ever these 
states are welded together in one great, fraternal, and 
enduring Union, with one heart pulsating through the 
entire frame, as the tides throb through the bosom of 
the sea, it will be when they all stand on the same level, 
with such a jealous regard for one another’s rights, 
that when the interests or honor of one are assailed, 
all the rest, feeling the wound, will kindle with just 
resentment at the outrage. But if that cannot be, then 
I trust the day will never dawn when the Southern peo¬ 
ple will add degradation to defeat, and hypocrisy to sub¬ 
jugation, by professing a love for the Union which de¬ 
nies to one of their states a single right accorded to 
Massachusetts or New York. To such a Union we will 
never be heartily loyal while that bronze hand grasps 
the sword, while yonder river chants the requiem of the 
sixteen thousand Confederate dead who sleep on the 
hills of Hollywood. 



OUR DEATHLESS DEAD 


323 


OUR DEATHLESS DEAD* 

Edwin Markham 

How shall we honor them, our Deathless Dead? 
With strew of laurel and the stately tread? 

With blaze of banners brightening overhead? 
Nay, not alone these cheaper praises bring; 

They will not have this easy honoring. 

Not all our cannon, breaking the blue noon, 

Not the rare reliquary, writ with rune, 

Not all the iterance of our reverent cheers, 

Not all sad bugles blown, 

Can honor them grown saintlier with the years. 

Nor can we praise alone 

In the majestic reticence of stone: 

Not even our lyric tears 

Can honor them, passed upward to their spheres. 
Nay, we must meet our august hour of fate 
As they meet theirs; and this will consecrate, 
This honor them, this stir their souls afar, 
Where they are climbing to an ampler star. 

No name of mortal is secure in stone: 

Hewn on the Parthenon, the name will waste; 
Carved on the Pyramid, ’twill be effaced. 

In the heroic deed and there alone, 

Is man’s one hold against the craft of Time, 

That humbles into dust the shaft sublime— 

That mixes sculptured Karnak with the sands, 
Unannaled, blown about the Libyan lands. 

And for the high, heroic deeds of men, 


Printed through the courtesy of our great poet, Edwin Markham. 



324 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


There is no crown of praise but deed again. 

Only the heart-quick praise, the praise of deed, 

Is faithful praise for the heroic breed. 

How shall we honor them, our Deathless Dead? 

How keep their mighty memories alive? 

In him who feels their passion, they survive! 

Flatter their souls with deed, and all is said! 

In the heroic soul their souls create 
Is raised remembrance past the reach of fate. 

The will to serve and bear, 

The will to love and dare, 

And take for God unprofitable risk— 

These things, these things will utter praise and paean 
Louder than lyric thunders, Aeschylean; 

These things will build our dead unwasting obelisk. 




COOLIDGE ON LINCOLN 


325 


PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR CALVIN 
COOLIDGE, 1919 

Five score and ten years ago that Divine Providence, 
which infinite repetition has made only the more a mira¬ 
cle, sent into the world a new life, destined to save a 
nation. No star, no sign, foretold his coming. About 
his cradle all was poor and mean save only, the source 
of all great men, the love of a wonderful woman. When 
she faded away in his tender years, from her deathbed 
in humble poverty, she dowered her son with greatness. 
There can be no proper observance of a birthday which 
forgets the mother. Into his origin as into his life 
men long have looked and wondered. In wisdom great, 
but in humility greater, in justice strong, but in com¬ 
passion stronger, he became a leader of men by being 
a follower of the truth. He overcame evil with good. 
His presence filled the nation. He broke the might of 
oppression. He restored a race to its birthright. His 
mortal frame has vanished, but his spirit increases with 
the increasing years, the richest legacy of the greatest 
century. 

Men show by what they worship what they are. It 
is no accident that before the great example of Amer¬ 
ican manhood our people stand with respect and rev¬ 
erence. And in accordance with this sentiment our 
laws have provided for a formal recognition of the 
birthday of Abraham Lincoln, for in him is revealed 
our ideal, the hope of our country fulfilled. 

Now, therefore, by the authority of Massachusetts, 
the twelfth day of February is set apart as Lincoln 
Day, and its observance recommended as befits the ben¬ 
eficiaries of his life and the admirers of his character, 
in places of education and worship wherever our peo¬ 
ple meet one with another. 


326 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


UNION AND LIBERTY* 

By Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Flag of the heroes who left us their glory, 

Borne through their battle-fields’ thunder and flame, 
Blazoned in song and illumined in story, 

Wave o’er us all who inherit their fame; 

Up with our banner bright, 

Sprinkled with starry light, 

Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, 
While through the sounding sky 
Loud rings the Nation’s cry,— 

Union and Liberty! One evermore! 

Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation, 

Pride of her children, and honored afar, 

Let the wise beams of thy full constellation 
Scatter each cloud that would darken a star! 

Up with our banner bright, 

Sprinkled with starry light, 

Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, 
While through the sounding sky 
Loud rings the Nation’s cry,— 

Union and Liberty! One evermore! 

Empire unsceptred! what foe shall assail thee, 
Bearing the standard of Liberty’s van? 

Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee, 

* Used by permission of, and by arrangement with, the Houghton 
Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers of Holmes’ poems. 



UNION AND LIBERTY 


327 


Striving with men for the birthright of man! 

Up with our banner bright, 

Sprinkled with starry light, 

Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, 
While through the sounding sky 
Loud rings the Nation’s cry,— 

Union and Liberty! One evermore! 

Yet, if by madness and treachery blighted, 

Dawns the dark hour when the sword thou must draw, 

Then with the arms of thy millions united, 

Smite the bold traitors to Freedom and Law! 

Up with our banner bright, 

Sprinkled with starry light, 

Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, 
While through the sounding sky 
Loud rings the Nation’s cry,— 

Union and Liberty! One evermore! 

Lord of the Universe! shield us and guide us, 

Trusting Thee always, through shadow and sun! 

Thou hast united us, who shall divide us? 

Keep us, oh keep us the Many in One! 

Up with our banner bright, 

Sprinkled with starry light, 

Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, 
While through the sounding sky 
Loud rings the Nation’s cry,— 

Union and Liberty! One evermoreL 


328 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ARBITRATION* 

The Presidents of the United States and the Amer¬ 
ican people have always stood for the peaceful settle¬ 
ment of international disputes. Arbitration has been 
one of our national policies. A few quotations from 
some of our later Presidents show the gains we have 
made in securing international good will. 

THE ARSENAL AT SPRINGFIELD** 

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling 
Like a huge organ, rise the burnished arms; 

But from their silent pipes no anthem pealing 
Startles the villages with strange alarms. 

Ah! what a sound will rise, how wild and dreary, 

When the death-angel touches those swift keys; 
What loud lament and dismal Miserere 
Will mingle with their awful symphonies! 

I hear even now the infinite fierce chorus, 

The cries of agony, the endless groan, 

Which, through the ages have gone before us 
In long reverberations reach our own. 

*For additional selections on international good will study the 
following: 

Friendship among Nations—Victor Hugo; 

Ode to Peace—Tenant; 

Peace and Patriotism—Smith; 

The Way to Peace—Rabbi Stephen Wise; 

Welcome to the Nations—Holmes; 

World Reconstruction—Oscar S. Straus. 

** Used by permission of, and by arrangement with, the Houghton 
Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers of Longfellow’s poems. 





ARBITRATION 


329 


On helm and harness rings the Saxon hammer, 
Through Cimbric forest roars the Norseman’s song, 

And loud, amid the universal clamor, 

O’er distant deserts sounds the Tartar gong. 

I hear the Florentine, who from his palace 
Wheels out his battle-bell with dreadful din, 

And Aztec priests upon their teocallis 

Beat the wild war-drums of serpent’s skin; 

The tumult of each sacked and burning village; 

The shout that every prayer for mercy drowns; 

The soldiers’ revels in the midst of pillage, 

The wail of famine in beleaguered towns; 

The bursting shell, the gateway wrenched asunder, 
The rattling musketry, the clashing blade; 

And ever and anon, in tones of thunder, 

The diapason of the cannonade. 

Is it, O man, with such discordant noises, 

With such accursed instruments as these, 

Thou drownest Nature’s sweet and kindly voices, 

And jarrest the celestial harmonies? 

Were half the power, that fills the world with terror, 
Were half the wealth, bestowed on camps and courts, 

Given to redeem the human mind from error, 

There were no need of arsenals or forts: 

The warrior’s name would be a name abhorred! 

And every nation, that should lift again 

Its hand against a brother, on its forehead 
Would bear forevermore the curse of Cain! 


330 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Down the dark future, through long generations, 

The echoing sounds grow fainter and then cease; 

And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, 

I hear once more the voice of Christ say, Peace! 

Peace! and no longer from its brazen portals 

The blast of War’s great organ shakes the skies! 
But beautiful as songs of the immortals, 

The holy melodies of love arise. 

GROVER CLEVELAND’S MESSAGE 
December 4, 1893 

By a concurrent resolution passed by the Senate Feb 
ruary 14, 1890, and by the House of Representatives 
on the 3rd of April following the President was re¬ 
quested to “invite from time to time, as fit occasions 
may arise, negotiations with any government with 
which the United States has or may have diplomatic 
relations, to the end that any differences or disputes 
arising between the two governments which can not be 
adjusted by diplomatic agency may be referred to arbi¬ 
tration and be peaceably adjusted by such means.” 
April 18, 1890, the International American Conference 
of Washington by resolution expressed the wish that 
all controversies between the republics of America and 
the nations of Europe might be settled by arbitration, 
and recommended that the government of each nation 
represented in that conference should communicate this 
wish to all friendly powers. A favorable response has 
been received from Great Britain in the shape of a res¬ 
olution adopted by Parliament July 16 last, cordially 
sympathizing with the purpose in view and expressing 


ARBITRATION 


331 


the hope that Her Majesty’s Government will lend 
ready cooperation to the Government of the United 
States upon the basis of the concurrent resolutions 
above quoted. 

It affords me signal pleasure to lay this parliamen¬ 
tary resolution before the Congress and to express my 
sincere gratification that the sentiment of two great 
and kindred nations is thus authoritatively manifested 
in favor of the rational and peaceable settlement of 
international quarrels by honorable resort to arbitration. 

GROVER CLEVELAND’S MESSAGE 
December 7, 1896 

The Venezuelan boundary question has ceased to be 
a matter of difference between Great Britain and the 
United States, their respective governments having 
agreed upon the substantial provisions of a treaty be¬ 
tween Great Britain and Venezuela submitting the 
whole controversy to arbitration. The provisions of 
the treaty are so eminently just and fair that the assent 
of Venezuela thereto may confidently be anticipated. 

Negotiations for a treaty of general arbitration for 
all differences between Great Britain and the United 
States are far advanced and promise to reach a suc¬ 
cessful consummation at an early date. 

EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 17, 1897. 
To the Senate: 

I transmit herewith a treaty for the arbitration of 
all matters in difference between the United States 
and Great Britain. 


332 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


The provisions of the treaty are the result of long 
and patient deliberations and represent concessions 
made by each party for the sake of agreement upon 
the general scheme. 

Though the result reached may not meet the views 
of the advocates of immediate, unlimited, and irrevo¬ 
cable arbitration of all international controversies, it 
is nevertheless confidently believed that the treaty can 
not fail to be everywhere recognized as making a long 
step in the right direction and as embodying a prac¬ 
tical working plan by which disputes between the two 
countries will reach a peaceful adjustment as a matter 
of course and in ordinary routine. 

In the initiation of such an important movement it 
must be expected that some of its features will assume 
a tentative character looking to a further advance, and 
yet it is apparent that the treaty which has been form¬ 
ulated not only makes war between the parties to it a 
remote possibility, but precludes those fears and rumors 
of war which of themselves too often assure the pro¬ 
portions of national disaster. 

It is eminently fitting as well as fortunate that the 
attempts to accomplish results so beneficent should be 
initiated by kindred peoples,, speaking the same tongue 
and joined together by all the ties of common institu¬ 
tions, and common aspirations. The experiment of sub¬ 
stituting civilized methods for brute force as the means 
of settling international questions of right will thus 
be tried under the happiest auspices. Its success ought 
not to be doubtful, and the fact that its ultimate ensu¬ 
ing benefits are not likely to be limited to the two coun¬ 
tries immediately concerned should cause it to be pro¬ 
moted all the more eagerly. The examples set and the 


ARBITRATION 


333 


lesson furnished by the successful operation of this 
treaty arc sure to be left and taken to heart sooner or 
later by other nations, and will thus mark the begin¬ 
ning of a new epoch in civilization. 

Profoundly impressed as I am, therefore, by the 
promise of transcendent good which this treaty affords, 
1 do not hesitate to accompany its transmission with an 
expression of my earnest hope that it may commend 
itself to the favorable consideration of the Senate. 

GROVER CLEVELAND. 

>/ 

WILLIAM McKINLEY’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
March 4, 1897 


It has been the policy of the United States since the 
foundation of the Government to cultivate relations 
of peace and amity with all nations of the world, and 
this accords with my conception of our duty now. We 
have cherished the policy of non-interference with the 
affairs of foreign governments wisely inaugurated by 
Washington, keeping ourselves free from entangle¬ 
ment, either as allies or foes, content to leave undis¬ 
turbed with them the settlement of their own domestic 
concerns. It will be our aim to pursue a firm and dig¬ 
nified foreign policy, which shall be just, impartial, ever 
watchful of our national honor, and always insisting 
upon the enforcement of the lawful rights of Ameri¬ 
can citizens everywhere. Our diplomacy should seek 
nothing more and accept nothing less than is due us3 
We want no wars of conquest) we must avoid the 
temptation of territorial aggression. War should never 
be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed; 


334 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


peace is preferable to war in almost every contingency. 
Arbitration is the true method of settlement of inter¬ 
national as well as local or individual differences. It 
was recognized as the best means of adjustment of dif¬ 
ferences between employers and employees by the Forty- 
ninth Congress, in 1886, and its application was ex¬ 
tended to our diplomatic relations by the unanimous 
concurrence of the Senate and House of the Fifty-first 
Congress in 1890. The latter resolution was accepted 
as the basis of negotiations with us by the British 
House of Commons in 1893, and upon our invitation 
a treaty of arbitration between the United States and 
Great Britain was signed at Washington and trans¬ 
mitted to the Senate for its ratification in January last. 
Since this treaty is clearly the result of our own initia¬ 
tive; since it has been recognized as the leading fea¬ 
ture of our foreign policy throughout our entire na¬ 
tional history—the adjustment of difficulties by judi¬ 
cial methods rather than force of arms—and since it 
presents to the world the glorious example of reason 
and peace, not passion and war, controlling the rela¬ 
tions between two of the greatest nations in the world, 
an example certain to be followed by others, I respect¬ 
fully urge the early action of the Senate thereon, not 
merely as a matter of policy, but as a duty to mankind. 
The importance and moral influence of the ratification 
of such a treaty can hardly be overestimated in the 
cause of advancing civilization. It may well engage the 
best thought of the statesmen and people of every coun¬ 
try, and I cannot but consider it fortunate that it was 
reserved to the United States to have the leadership in 
so great a work. 


ARBITRATION 


335 


McKINLEY’S MESSAGE 
December 6, 1897 

International arbitration cannot be omitted from the 
list of subjects claiming our consideration. Events have 
only served to strengthen the general views on this 
question expressed in my inaugural address. The best 
sentiment of the civilized world is moving toward the 
settlement of differences between nations without re¬ 
sorting to the horrors of war. Treaties embodying 
these humane principles on broad lines, without in any 
way imperiling our interests or our honor, shall have 
my constant encouragement. 


McKINLEY’S MESSAGE 
December 3, 1900 

It is with satisfaction that I am able to announce the 
formal notification at The Hague, on September 4, of 
the deposit of ratifications of the Convention for the 
Pacific Settlement of International Disputes by sixteen 
powers, namely, the United States, Austria, Belgium, 
Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Persia, 
Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Siam, Spain, Sweden and 
Norway, and the Netherlands. Japan also has since 
ratified the Convention. 

The Administrative Council of the Permanent Court 
of Arbitration has been organized and has adopted 
rules of order and a constitution for the International 
Arbitration Bureau. In accordance with Article XXII 




336 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


of the Convention providing for the appointment by 
each signatory power of persons of known competency 
in questions of international law as arbitrators, I have 
appointed as members of this court, Hon. Benjamin 
Plarrison, of Indiana, ex-President of the United 
States; Hon. Melville W. Fuller, of Illinois, Chief Jus¬ 
tice of the United States; Hon. John W. Griggs, of 
New Jersey, Attorney-General of the United States, 
and Hon. George Gray, of Delaware, a judge of the cir¬ 
cuit court of the United States. 


TPIEODORE ROOSEVELT’S MESSAGE 
December 3, 1901 


The true end of every great and free people should 
be self-respecting peace, and this nation most earnestly 
desires sincere and cordial friendship with all others. 
Over the entire world, of recent years, wars between 
the great civilized powers have become less and less 
frequent. Wars with barbarous or semi-barbarous peo¬ 
ples come in an entirely different category, being merely 
a most regrettable but necessary international police 
duty which must be performed for the sake of the wel¬ 
fare of mankind. Peace can only be kept with certainty 
wliere both sides wish to keep it; but more and more 
the civilized peoples are realizing the wicked folly of 
war and are attaining that condition of just and intelli¬ 
gent regard for the rights of others which will in the 
end, as we hope and believe, make world-wide peace 
possible. The peace conference at The Hague gave 
definite expression to this hope and belief and marked a 
stride toward their attainment. 







ARBITRATION 


337 


ROOSEVELT’S MESSAGE 
December 6, 1904 


We are in every way endeavoring to help on, with 
cordial good will, every movement which will tend to 
bring us into more friendly relations with the rest of 
mankind. In pursuance of this policy, I shall shortly 
lay before the Senate treaties of arbitration with all 
powers which are willing to enter into these treaties 
with us. It is not possible at this period of the world’s 
development to agree to arbitrate all matters, but there 
are many matters of possible difference between us and 
other nations which can be thus arbitrated. Further¬ 
more, at the request of the Interparliamentary Union, 
an eminent body composed of practical statesmen from 
all countries, 1 have asked the powers to join with this 
government in a second Hague conference, at which it 
is hoped that the work already so happily begun at The 
Hague may be carried some steps further toward com¬ 
pletion. This carries out the desire expressed by the 
first Hague conference itself. 


ROOSEVELT’S MESSAGE 
December 3, 1907 


The second international peace conference was con¬ 
vened at The Plague on the 15th of June last and re¬ 
mained in session until the 18th of October. For the 
first time the representatives of practically all the civ¬ 
ilized countries of the world united in a temperate and 
kindly discussion of the methods by which the causes of 
war might be narrowed and its injurious effects re¬ 
duced. 





338 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

Although the agreements reached in the conference 
did not in any direction go to the length hoped for by 
the more sanguine, yet in many directions important 
steps were taken, and upon every subject on the pro¬ 
gramme there was such full and considerate discussion 
as to justify the belief that substantial progress has been 
made toward further agreements in the future. Thir¬ 
teen conventions were agreed upon embodying the 
definite conclusions which had been reached, and reso¬ 
lutions were adopted marking the progress made in 
matters upon which agreement was not yet sufficiently 
complete to make conventions practicable. 

The delegates of the United States were instructed 
to favor an agreement for obligatory arbitration, the 
establishment of a permanent court of arbitration to 
proceed judiciously in the hearing and decision of inter¬ 
national causes, the prohibition of force for the collec¬ 
tion of contract debts alleged to be due from govern¬ 
ments to citizens of other countries until after arbitra¬ 
tion as to the justice and amount of the debt and the 
time and manner of payment, the immunity of private 
property at sea, the better definition of the rights of 
neutrals, and, in case any measure to that end should 
be introduced, the limitation of armaments. 

In the field of peaceful disposal of international dif¬ 
ferences several important advances were made. First, 
as to obligatory arbitration, it did resolve as follows: 

“It is unanimous: (1) In accepting the principles 
for obligatory arbitration; (2) In declaring that cer¬ 
tain differences, and notably those relating to the inter¬ 
pretation and application of international stipulations 
are susceptible of being submitted to obligatory arbitra¬ 
tion without any restriction.” 





ARBITRATION 


339 


In view of the fact as a result of the discussion, the 
vote upon the definite treaty of obligatory arbitration, 
which was proposed, stood 32 in favor to 9 against the 
adoption of the treaty, there can be little doubt that the 
great majority of the countries of the world have 
reached a point where they are now ready to apply prac¬ 
tically the principles thus unanimously agreed upon by 
the conference. 

The second advance, and a very great one, is the 
agreement which relates to the use of force for the col¬ 
lection of contract debts. Your attention is invited to 
the paragraphs upon this subject in my message of De¬ 
cember, 1906, and to the resolution of the third Ameri¬ 
can conference at Rio in the summer of 1906. The 
convention upon this subject adopted by the conference 
substantially as proposed by the American delegates is 
as follows: 

“In order to avoid between nations armed conflicts of 
a purely pecuniary origin arising from contractual debts 
claimed of the government of one country by the gov¬ 
ernment of another country to be due to its nationals, 
the signatory powers agree not to have recourse to 
armed force for the collection of such contractual debts. 

“However, this stipulation shall not be applicable 
when the debtor state refuses or leaves unanswered an 
offer to arbitrate, or, in case of acceptance, makes it 
impossible to formulate the terms of submission, or, 
after arbitration, fails to comply with the award ren¬ 
dered. 

“It is further agreed that arbitration here contem¬ 
plated shall be in conformity, as to procedure, with 
Chapter III of the Convention for the Pacific Settle¬ 
ment of International Disputes adopted at The Hague, 


340 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


and that it shall determine, in so far as there shall be 
no agreement between the parties, the justice and the 
amount of the debt, the time and mode of payment 

thereof/' . . j 

Such a provision would have prevented much injus¬ 
tice and extortion in the past, and I cannot doubt that 
its effect in the future will be most salutary^ 

A third advance has been made in amending and per¬ 
fecting the convention of 1889 for the voluntary settle- : 
ment of international disputes, and particularly the ex¬ 
tension of those parts of that convention which relate to 
commissions of inquiry. The existence of those pro¬ 
visions enabled the government of Great Britain and 
Russia to avoid war, notwithstanding a great public ex¬ 
citement, at the time of the Dogger Bank incident, and 
the new convention agreed upon by the conference gives 
practical effect to the experience gained in that inquiry. 

Substantial progress was also made towards the crea¬ 
tion of a permanent judicial tribunal for the determina¬ 
tion of international causes. There was very full dis¬ 
cussion of the proposal for such a court and a general 
agreement was finally reached in favor of its creation. 
The conference recommended to the signatory powers 
the adoption of a draft upon which it agreed for the 
organization of the court, leaving to be determined only 
the method by which the judges should be selected. This 
remaining unsettled question is plainly one which time 
and good temper will solve. 

A further agreement of the first importance was that 
for the creation of an international prize court. The 
constitution, organization and procedure of such a tri¬ 
bunal were provided for in detail. Anyone who recalls 
the injustices under which this country suffered as a 



ARBITRATION 


341 


neutral power during the early part of the last century 
cannot fail to see in this provision for an international 
prize court the great advance which the world is mak¬ 
ing towards the substitution of the rule of reason and 
justice in place of simple force. Not only will the inter¬ 
national prize court be the means of protecting the in¬ 
terests of neutrals, but it is in itself a step towards the 
creation of the more general court for the hearing of 
international controversies to which reference has just 
been made. The organization and action of such a prize 
court cannot fail to accustom the different countries to 
the submission of international questions to the de¬ 
cision of an international tribunal, and we may confi¬ 
dently expect the result of such submission to bring 
about a general agreement upon the enlargement of the 
practice. 

Numerous provisions were adopted for reducing the 
evil effects of war and for defining the rights and duties 
of neutrals. 

The conference also provided for the holding of a 
third conference within a period similar to that which 
elapsed between the first and second conferences. 

The delegates of the United States worthily repre¬ 
sented the spirit of the American people and maintained 
with fidelity and ability the policy of our government 
upon all the great questions discussed in the confer¬ 
ence. 

The report of the delegation, together with authen¬ 
ticated copies of the conventions signed, when received, 
will be laid before the Senate for its consideration. 

When we remember how difficult it is for one of our 
own legislative bodies, composed of citizens of the same 
country, speaking the same language, living under the 


342 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


same laws, and having the same customs, to reach an 
agreement, or even to secure a majority upon any diffi¬ 
cult and important subject which is proposed for legis¬ 
lation, it becomes plain that the representatives of forty- 
five different countries, speaking many different lan¬ 
guages, accustomed to different methods of procedure, 
with widely diverse interests, who discussed so many I 
different subjects and reached agreements upon so 
many, are entitled to grateful appreciation for the 
wisdom, patience, and moderation with which they have 
discharged their duty. The example of this temperate 
discussion, and the agreements and the efforts to agree, 
among representatives of all the nations of the earth, 
acting with universal recognition of the supreme obli- , 
gation to promote peace, cannot fail to be a powerful 
influence for good in future international relations. 


HAPPINESS AND LIBERTY* 

Robert G. Ingersoll 

It is not necessary to be rich in order to be happy. 
The laugh of a child will brighten the gloom of the 
darkest day. Strike with the hand of fire, O weird 
musician, upon the harp-string with Apollo's golden 
hair. Fill the vast cathedral aisles with symphonies 
sweet and dim. Blow, bugles! until your silvery notes 
do touch and kiss the moonlit waves and charm the 
lovers wandering 'neath the vine-clad hills; but know 
that your sweetest strains are but discords all com- 

*From “At the Tomb of Lincoln,” by Robert G. Ingersoll. Printed 
by special permission of C. P. Farrell, only authorized Publisher of 
the Writings of Robert G. Ingersoll, 117 East 21st street, New York 
City. 





HAPPINESS AND LIBERTY 


343 


pared with childhood’s happy laugh. Oh, rippling river 
of laughter, thou are the blessed boundary line between 
man and beast, and each wayward wave of thine doth 
catch and drown some fitful friend of care! 

Do not tell me you have got to be rich. We have a 
false standard of these things in the United States. 
We think that a man must be great, that he must be 
famous, that he must be wealthy. This is all a mis¬ 
take. It is not necessary to be rich, to be great, to be 
famous, to be powerful, in order to be happy. The 
happy man is the free man. Happiness is the legal 
tender of the soul. Joy is wealth. Liberty is joy ; 

A little while ago I stood by the grave of the old Na¬ 
poleon—a magnificent tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost 
for a dead deity—and gazed upon the sarcophagus of 
black Egyptian marble, where rest at last the ashes of 
that restless man. I leaned over the balustrade and 
thought about the career of the greatest soldier of the 
modern world. 

I saw him walking upon the banks of the Seine, con¬ 
templating suicide. I saw him at Toulon—I saw him 
putting down the mob in the streets of Paris I saw 
him at the head of the army of Italy—I saw him cross¬ 
ing the bridge of Lodi with the tricolor in his hand— 
I saw him in Egypt in the shadow of the Pyramids—- 
1 saw him conquer the Alps and mingle the Eagles of 
France with the eagles of the crags. I saw him at 
Marengo—at Ulm and Austerlitz. I saw him in Rus¬ 
sia, where the infantry of the snow and the cavalry of 
the wild blast scattered his legions like winter’s with¬ 
ered leaves. I saw him at Leipsic in defeat and dis¬ 
aster—driven by a million bayonets upon Paris—clutch¬ 
ed like a wild beast—banished to Elba. I saw him es- 


344 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


cape and retake an empire by the force of his genius. 
I saw him upon the frightful field of Waterloo, where 
Chance and Fate combined to wreck the fortunes of 
their former king. And I saw him at St. Helena, with 
his hands crossed behind him, gazing out upon the 
sad and solemn sea. 

I thought of all the orphans and widows he had 
made—of the tears that had been shed for his glory, 
and of the only woman who had ever loved him, pushed 
from his heart by the ruthless hand of ambition. And 
I said I would rather have been a French peasant and 
worn wooden shoes; I would rather have lived in a 
hut with the vines growing over the door and the 
grapes growing purple in the kisses of the autumn sun, 
with my loving wife knitting by my side as the day 
died out the sky; yes, I would rather have been that 
man and gone down to the tongueless silence of the 
dreamless dust, than to have been that imperial imper¬ 
sonation of force and murder known as Napoleon the 
Great. 

No, it is not necessary to be great to be happy. It 
is not necessary to be rich to be generous. It is not 
necessary to be powerful to be just. When the world 
is free, this question will be settled. A new creed will 
be written. In that creed there will be but one word, 
'‘Liberty!” O Liberty, float not forever in the far ho¬ 
rizon, remain not forever in the dream of the enthu¬ 
siast, dwell not forever in the song of the past, but 
come and make thy home among the children of men. 
I know not what thoughts, what discoveries, what in¬ 
ventions may leap from the brain of man; I know not 
what garments of glory may be woven by the years to 
come; I cannot dream of the victories to be won upon 





McKINLEY’S SPEECH 


345 


the field of thought. But I do know that coming from 
the infinite sea of the future there shall never touch 
this bank and shoal of time, a richer gift, a rarer bless¬ 
ing, than liberty. 


McKinley 

His Last Speech—September 5, 1901 

I am glad* again to be in the city of Buffalo and ex¬ 
change greetings with her people, to whose generous 
hospitality I am not a stranger, and with whose good 
will I have been repeatedly and signally honored. To¬ 
day I have additional satisfaction in meeting and giv¬ 
ing welcome to the foreign representatives assembled 
here, whose presence and participation in this Exposi¬ 
tion have contributed in so marked a degree to its in¬ 
terest and success. To the commissioners of the Do¬ 
minion of Canada and the British Colonies, the French 
Colonies, the Republics of Mexico and of Central and 
South America, and the commissioners of Cuba and 
Porto Rico, who share with us in this undertaking, 
we give the hand of fellowship and felicitate with 
them upon the triumphs of art, science, education and 
manufacture which the old has bequeathed to the new 
century. 

Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They 
record the world’s advancement. They stimulate the 
energy, enterprise and intellect of the people, and quick¬ 
en human genius. They go into the home. They broad¬ 
en and brighten the daily life of the people. They open 
mighty storehouses of information to the student. 
Every exposition, great or small, has helped to some 
onward step. 


346 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Comparison of ideas is always educational and, as i 
such, instructs the brain and hand of man. Friendly 
rivalry follows, which is the spur to industrial improve¬ 
ment, the inspiration to useful invention and to high 
endeavor in all departments of human activity. It ex- j 
acts a studv of the wants, comforts, and even the whims 
of the people, and recognizes the efficacy of high qual¬ 
ity and low prices to win their favor, dhe quest foi 
trade is an incentive to men of business to devise, in¬ 
vent, improve and economize in the cost of production. 
Business life, whether among ourselves, or with other 
peoples, is ever a sharp struggle for success. It will 
be none the less in the future. 

Without competition we would be clinging to the 
clumsy and antiquated process of farming and manu¬ 
facture and the methods of business of long ago, and 
the twentieth would be no further advanced than the 
eighteenth century. But though commercial competitors 
we are, commercial enemies we must not be. The Pan- 
American Exposition has done its work thoroughly, 
presenting in its exhibits evidences of the highest skill 
and illustrating the progress of the human family in 
the Western Hemisphere. This portion of the earth 
has no cause for humiliation for the part it has per¬ 
formed in the march of civilization. It has not accom¬ 
plished everything; far from it. It has simply done its 
best, and without vanity or boastfulness, and recogniz¬ 
ing the manifold achievements of others it invites the 
friendly rivalry of all the powers in the peaceful pur¬ 
suits of trade and commerce, and will co-operate with 
all in advancing the highest and best interests of hu¬ 
manity. The wisdom and energy of all the nations are 
none too great for the world work. The success of art. 



McKINLEY’S SPEECH 347 

science, industry and invention is an international asset 
and a common glory. 

After all, how near one to the other is every part of 
the world. Modern inventions have brought into close 
relation widely separated peoples and has made them 
better acquainted. Geographic and political divisions 
will continue to exist, but distances have been effaced. 
Swift ships and fast trains are becoming cosmopolitan. 
They invade fields which a few years ago were impen¬ 
etrable. The world’s products are exchanged as never 
before and with increasing transportation facilities come 
increasing knowledge and large trade. Prices are fixed 
with mathematical precision by supply and demand. 
The world’s selling prices are regulated by market and 
crop reports. We travel greater distances in a shorter 
space of time and with more ease than was ever dream¬ 
ed of by the fathers. Isolation is no longer possible 
or desirable. The same important news is read, though 
in different languages, the same day in all Christendom. 

The telegraph keeps us advised of what is occurring 
everywhere, and the press foreshadows, with more or 
less accuracy, the plans and purposes of the nations. 
Market prices of products and of securities are hourly 
known in every commercial mart, and the investments 
of the people extend beyond their own national boun¬ 
daries into the remotest parts of the earth. Vast trans¬ 
actions are conducted and international exchanges are 
made by the tick of the cable. Every event of interest 
is immediately bulletined. The quick gathering and 
transmission of news, like rapid transit, are of recent 
origin, and are only made possible by the genius of the 
inventor and the courage of the investor. It took a 
special messenger of the government, with every facility 


348 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


known at the time for rapid travel, nineteen days to go 
from the City of Washington to New Orleans with a 
message to General Jackson that the war with England 
had ceased and a treaty of peace had been signed. How 
different now! We reached Gen. Miles, in Porto Rico, 
and he was able through the military telegraph to stop 
his army on the firing line with the message that the 
United States and Spain had signed a protocol sus¬ 
pending hostilities. We knew almost instantly of the 
first shots fired at Santiago, and the subsequent sur¬ 
render of the Spanish forces was known at Washing- : 
ton within less than an hour of its consummation. The 
first ship of Cervera’s fleet had hardly emerged from 
that historic harbor when the fact was flashed to our 
Capitol, and the swift destruction that followed was 
announced immediately through the wonderful medium 
of telegraphy. 

So accustomed are we to safe and easy communica¬ 
tion with distant lands that its temporary interruption, 
even in ordinary times, results in loss and inconven¬ 
ience. We shall never forget the days of anxious wait¬ 
ing and suspense when no information was permitted 
to be sent from Pekin, and the diplomatic representa¬ 
tives of the nations in China, cut off from all communi¬ 
cation, inside and outside of the walled capitol, were 
surrounded by an angry misguided mob that threatened 
their lives; nor the joy that thrilled the world when a 
single message from the government of the United 
States brought through our minister the first news of 
the safety of the besieged diplomats. 

At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was 
not a mile of steam railroad on the globe; now there 
are enough miles to make its circuit many times. Then 


McKINLEY’S SPEECH 


349 


there was not a line of electric telegraph; now we have 
a vast mileage traversing all lands and seas. God and 
man have linked the nations together. No nation can 
longer be indifferent to any other. And as we are 
brought more and more in touch with each other, the 
less occasion is there for misunderstandings, and the 
stronger the disposition, when we have differences, to 
adjust them in the court of arbitration, which is the 
noblest forum for the settlement of international dis¬ 
putes. 

My fellow citizens, trade statistics indicate that this 
country is in a state of unexampled prosperity. The 
figures are almost appalling. They show that we are 
utilizing our fields and forests and mines, and that we 
are furnishing profitable employment to the millions of 
workingmen throughout the United States, bringing 
comfort and happiness to their homes, and making it 
possible to lay by savings for old age and disability. 
That all the people are participating in this great pros¬ 
perity is seen in every American community and shown 
by the enormous and unprecedented deposits in our sav¬ 
ings banks. Our duty in the care and security of these 
deposits and their safe investment demands the highest 
integrity and the best business capacity of those in 
charge of these depositors of the people’s earnings. 

We have a vast and intricate business, built up 
through years of toil and struggle in which every part 
of the country has its stake, which will not permit oi 
either neglect or of undue selfishness. No narrow, sor¬ 
did policy will subserve it. The greatest skill and wis¬ 
dom on the part of manufacturers and producers will 
be required to hold and increase it. Our industrial en¬ 
terprises, which have grown to such great proportions, 


350 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


affect the homes and occupations of the people and the 
welfare of the country. Our capacity to produce has 
developed so enormously and our products have so mul¬ 
tiplied that the problem of more markets requires our 
urgent and immediate attention. Only a broad and en¬ 
lightened policy will keep what we have. No other pol ¬ 
icy will get more. In these times of marvelous business 
energy and gain we ought to be looking to the future, 
strengthening the weak places in our industrial and 
commercial systems, that we may be ready for any 
storm or strain. 

By sensible trade arrangements which will not inter¬ 
rupt our home production we shall extend the outlets 
for our increasing surplus. A system which provides 
a mutual exchange of commodities is manifestly essen¬ 
tial to the continued and healthful growth of our export 
trade. We must not repose in the fancied security that 
we can for ever sell everything and buy little or noth¬ 
ing. If such a thing were possible it would not be best 
for us or for those with whom we deal. We should 
take from our customers such of their products as we 
can use without harm to our industries and labor. Rec¬ 
iprocity is the natural outgrowth of our wonderful in¬ 
dustrial development under the domestic policy now 
firmly established. 

What we produce beyond our domestic consumption 
must have a vent abroad. The excess must be relieved 
through a foreign outlet, and we should sell everywhere 
we can and buy wherever the buying will enlarge our 
sales and productions, and thereby make a greater de¬ 
mand for home labor. 

The period of exclusiveness is past. The expansion 
of our trade and commerce is the pressing problem. 



McKINLEY’S SPEECH 


351 


Commercial wars are unprofitable. A policy of good 
will and friendly trade relations will prevent reprisals. 
Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of 
the times; measures of retaliation are not. If, per¬ 
chance, some of our tariffs are no longer needed for 
revenue or to encourage and protect our industries at 
home, why should they not be employed to extend and 
promote our markets abroad? Then, too, we have in¬ 
adequate steamship service. New lines of steamships 
have already been put in commission between the Pa¬ 
cific Coast ports of the United States and those on the 
western coasts of Mexico and Central and South Amer¬ 
ican ports. One of the needs of the times is direct com¬ 
mercial lines from our vast fields of production to the 
fields of consumption that we have but barely touched. 
Next in advantage to having the thing to sell is to have 
the conveyance to carry it to the buyer. We must en¬ 
courage our merchant marine. We must have more 
ships. They must be under the American flag; built 
and manned and owned by Americans. These will not 
only be profitable in a commercial sense; they will be 
messengers of peace and amity wherever they go. 

We must build the Isthmian canal, which will unite 
the two oceans and give a straight line of water com¬ 
munication with the western coasts of Central and 
South America and Mexico. The construction of a 
Pacific cable can not be longer postponed. In the fur¬ 
therance of these objects of national interest and con¬ 
cern you are performing an important part. This Ex¬ 
position would have touched the heart of that American 
statesman whose mind was ever alert and thought ever 
constantly for a larger commerce and a truer fraternity 
of the republics of the New World. The broad Amer- 


352 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ican spirit is felt and manifested here. He needs no 
identification to 'an assemblage of Americans anywhere, 
for the name of Blaine is inseparably associated with 
the Pan-American movement which finds here practical 
and substantial expression, and which we all hope will 
be firmly advanced by the Pan-American Congress that 
assembles this autumn in the capital of Mexico. The 
good work will go on. It can not be stopped. Those 
buildings will disappear; this creation of art and beauty 
and industry will perish from sight, but their influence 
will remain to “make it live beyond its too short living 
with praises and thanksgiving/’ Who can tell the new 
thoughts that have been awakened, the ambitions fired 
and the high achievements that will be wrought through 
this Exposition? 

Gentlemen, let us ever remember that our interest is 
in concord, not conflict; and that our real eminence 
rests in the victories of peace, not those of war. We 
hope that all who are represented here may be moved 
to higher and nobler efforts for their own and the 
world’s good, and that out of this city may come not 
only greater commerce and trade for us all, but, more 
essential than these, relations of mutual respect, confi¬ 
dence and friendship which will deepen and endure. 
Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouch¬ 
safe prosperity, happiness and peace to all our neigh¬ 
bors, and like blessings to all the peoples and powers 
of earth. 




THE OPEN DOOR 


353 


JOHN HAY’S STATEMENT OF THE 
OPEN DOOR POLICY 

September 6, 1899 

In 1898, when His Imperial Majesty had, 
through his diplomatic representative at this capital, 
notified this Government that Russia had leased from 
His Imperial Chinese Majesty the ports of Port Arthur, 
Talien-wan, and the adjacent territory in the Liao-tung 
Peninsula in northeastern China for a period of twenty- 
five years, your predecessor received categorical assur¬ 
ances from the Imperial Minister for Foreign Affairs 
that American interests in that part of the Chinese Em¬ 
pire would in no way be affected thereby, neither was 
it the desire of Russia to interfere with the trade of 
other nations, and that our citizens would continue to 
enjoy within said leased territory all the rights and 
privileges guaranteed them under existing treaties with 
China. Assurances of a similar purport were conveyed 
to me by the Emperor’s Ambassador at this capital; 
while fresh proof of this is afforded by the Imperial 
Ukase of July 30-August 11 last, creating the free port 
of Dalny, near Talien-wan, and establishing free trade 
for adjacent territory. 

However gratifying and reassuring such assurances 
may be in regard to the territory actually occupied and 
administered, it cannot but be admitted that a further, 
clearer, and more formal definition of the conditions 
which are henceforth to hold within the so-called Rus- 


354 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


sian “sphere of interest” in China as regards the com¬ 
mercial rights therein of our citizens is much desired 
by the business world of the United States, inasmuch 
as such a declaration would relieve it from a disturbing 
influence during the last four years on its operations in 
China. 

The present moment seems particularly opportune for 
ascertaining whether His Imperial Russian Majesty 
would not be disposed to give permanent form to the 
assurances heretofore given to his Government on this 
subject. 

The Ukase of the Emperor of August 11 of this 
year, declaring the port of Talien-wan open to the mer¬ 
chant ships of all nations during the remainder of the 
lease under which it-is held by Russia, removes the 
slightest uncertainty as to the liberal and conciliatory 
commercial policy His Majesty proposes carrying out 
in northeastern China, and would seem to insure us the 
sympathetic and, it is hoped, favorable consideration of 
the propositions hereinafter specified. 

The principles which this Government is particularly 
desirous of seeing formally declared by His Imperial 
Majesty and by all the great Powers interested in 
China, and which will be eminently beneficial to the 
commercial interests of the whole world, are: 

First. The recognition that no Power will in any 
way interfere with any treaty port or any vested inter¬ 
est within any leased territory or within any so-called 
“sphere of interest” it may have in China. 

Second. That the Chinese treaty tariff of the time 
being shall apply to all merchandise landed or shipped 
to all such ports as are within said “sphere of interest” 
(unless they be “free ports”), no matter to what na- 


THE OPEN DOOR 355 

tionality it may belong, and that duties so leviable shall 
be collected by the Chinese Government. 

Third. That it will levy no higher harbor dues on 
vessels of another nationality frequenting any ports in 
such ‘"sphere” than shall be levied on vessels of its own 
nationality, and no higher railroad charges over lines 
built, controlled, or operated within its “sphere” on 
merchandise belonging to citizens or subjects of other 
nationalities transported through such ‘"sphere” than 
shall be levied on similar merchandise belonging to its 
own nationals transported over equal distances. 

The declaration of such principles by His Imperial 
Majesty would not only be of great benefit to foreign 
commerce in China but would powerfully tend to re¬ 
move dangerous sources of irritation and possible con¬ 
flict between the various Powers; it would re-establish 
confidence and security; and would give great addi¬ 
tional weight to the concerted representations which 
the treaty Powers may hereafter make to His Imperial 
Chinese Majesty in the interest of reform in Chinese 
administration so essential to the consolidation and in¬ 
tegrity of that Empire, and which, it is believed, is a 
fundamental principle of the policy of His Majesty in 
Asia. 

Germany has declared the port of Kiao-chao, which 
she holds in Shangtung under a lease from China, a 
free port and has aided in the establishment there of a 
branch of the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs. The 
Imperial German Minister for Foreign Affairs has also 
given assurance that American trade would not in any 
way be discriminated against or interfered with, as 
there is no intention to close the leased territory to for¬ 
eign commerce within the areas which Germany claims. 


356 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


These facts lead this Government to believe that the 
Imperial German Government will lend its co-operation 
and give its acceptance to the proposition above out¬ 
lined, and which our Ambassador at Berlin is now in¬ 
structed to submit to it. 

That such a declaration will be favorably considered 
by Great Britain and Japan, two other Powers most 
interested in the subject, there can be no doubt; the 
formal and oft-repeated declarations of the British and 
Japanese Government in favor of the maintenance 
throughout China of freedom of trade for the whole 
world insure us, it is believed, the ready assent of these 
Powers to the declaration desired. 

The acceptance by His Imperial Majesty of these 
principles must therefore inevitably lead to their recog¬ 
nition by all the other Powers interested, and you are 
instructed to submit them to the Emperor’s Minister 
for Foreign Affairs and urge their immediate consid¬ 
eration. 



LANE 


357 


£fHE AMERICAN PIONEER* 

Address delivered at the opening of the Panama-Pacific 
Exposition, San Francisco, February 20, 1915 

Franklin K. Lane 

The sculptors who have ennobled these buildings with 
their work have surely given full wing to their fancy 
in seeking to symbolize the tale which this exposition 
tells. Among these figures I have sought for one which 
would represent to me the significance of this great 
enterprise. 

Prophets, priests, and kings are here, conquerors and 
mystical figures of ancient legend; but these do not 
speak the word I hear. 

My eye is drawn to the least conspicuous of all— 
the modest figure of a man standing beside two oxen, 
which looks down upon the court of nations, where 
East and West come face to face. 

Towering above his gaunt figure is the canopy of 
his prairie schooner. 

Gay conquistadores ride beside him, and one must 
look hard to see this simple, plodding figure. 

Yet that man is to me the one hero of the day. 

Without him we would not be here. 

Without him San Francisco would not be today the 
gayest city of the globe. 

Shall I tell you who he is, this key figure in the arch 
of our enterprise? 


*From “The American Spirit,” published by permission of Fred¬ 
erick A. Stokes Company, publisher of Franklin K. Lane’s Addresses. 



358 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


That slender, dauntless, plodding, modest figure is 
the American pioneer. 

To me he is, indeed, far more; he is the adventur¬ 
ous spirit of our restless race. 

Long ago he set sail with Ulysses. But Ulysses 
turned back. 

He sailed again with Columbus for the Indies and 
heard with joy the quick command, “Sail on, sail on, 
and on.” But the westward way was barred. 

He landed at Plymouth Rock and with his dull-eyed 
oxen has made the long, long journey across our con¬ 
tinent. His way has been hard, slow, momentous. 

He made his path through soggy, sodden forests 
where the storms of a thousand years conspired to 
block his way. 

He drank with delight of the brackish water where 
the wild beasts wallowed. 

He trekked through the yielding, treacherous snows; 
forded swift-running waters; crept painfully through 
rocky gorges where Titans had been at play; clambered 
up mountain sides, the sport of avalanche and of slide; 
dared the limitless land without horizon; ground his 
teeth upon the bitter dust of the desert; fainted be¬ 
neath the flail of the raw and ruthless sun; starved, 
thirsted, fought; was cast down but never broken; and 
he never turned back. 

Here he stands at last beside this western sea, the 
incarnate soul of his insatiable race — the American 
pioneer. 

Pity? He scorns it. 

Glory? He does not ask it. 

His sons and his daughters are scattered along the 
path he has come. 


LANE 


359 


Each fence post tells where some one fell. 

Each farm, brightened now with the first smile of 
spring, was once a battlefield, where men and women 
fought the choking horrors of starvation and isolation. 

His is the one glory—he found the way; his the 
adventure. 

It is life that he felt, life that compelled him. 

That strange, mysterious thing that lifted him out 
of the primeval muck and sent him climbing upward— 
that same strange thing has passed him onward, held 
out new visions to his wondering eye, and sung new 
songs into his welcoming ears. 

And why? 

In his long wandering he has had time to think. 

He has talked with the stars, and they have taught 
him not to ask why. 

He is here. 

He has seated himself upon the golden sand of this 
distant shore and has said to himself that it is time for 
him to gather his sons about him that they may talk; 
that they may tell tales of things done. 

Here on this stretch of shore he has built the outer¬ 
most campfire of his race and has gathered his sons 
that they may tell each other of the progress they have 
made—utter man’s prayers, things done for man. 

His sons are they who have cut these continents in 
twain, who have slashed God’s world as with a knife, 
who have gleefully made the rebellious seas to lift 
man’s ship across the barrier mountains of Panama. 

This thing the sons of the pioneer have done—it is 
their prayer, a thing done for man. 

And here, too, these sons of the pioneer will tell of 
other things they do—how they fill the night with jew- 


360 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


eled light conjured from the melting snows of the far- 
off mountains; how they talk together across the world 
in their own voices; how they baffle the eagles in their 
flight through the air and make their way within the 
spectral gloom of the soundless sea; how they reach into 
the heavens and draw down food out of the air to re¬ 
plenish the wasted earth; how with the touch of a knife 
they convert the sinner and with the touch of a stone 
dissolve disease. 

These things and more have they done in these latter 
days, these sons of the pioneer. 

And in their honor he has fashioned this beautiful 
city of dreams come true. 

In their honor has he hung the heavens with flowers 
and added new stars to the night. 

In blue and gold, in scarlet and purple, in the green 
of the shallow sea and the burnt brown of the summer 
hillside, he has made the architecture of the centuries 
to march before their eyes in column, colonnade, and 
court. 

We have but to anchor his quaint covered wagon to 
the soil and soon it rises transformed into the vane 
of some mighty cathedral. 

For after all Rome and Rheims, Salisbury and Seville 
are not far memories to the pioneer. 

Here, too, in this city of the new nation the pioneer 
has called together all his neighbors that we may learn 
one of the other. 

We are to live together side by side for all time. 

The seas are but a highway between the doorways 
of the nations. 

We are to know each other and to grow in mutual 
understanding. 


LANE 


361 


Perhaps strained nerves may sometimes fancy the 
gesture of the pioneer to be abrupt, and his voice we 
know has been hardened by the winter winds. 

But his neighbors will soon come to know that he has 
not hatred in his heart, for he is without fear; that he 
is without envy, for none can add to his wealth. 

The long journey of this slight, modest figure that 
stands beside the oxen is at an end. 

The waste places of the earth have been found. 

But adventure is not to end. 

Here in his house will be taught the gospel of an 
advancing democracy—strong, valiant, confident, con¬ 
quering—upborn and typified by the independent, ven¬ 
turesome spirit of that mystic materialist, the Ameri¬ 
can pioneer. 


362 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

v J 

MAKERS OF THE FLAG* 

Address delivered on Flag Day, 1914, before the em¬ 
ployees of the Department of the Interior, 
Washington, D. C. 

Franklin K. Lane 

This morning, as I passed into the Land Office, The 
Flag dropped me a most cordial salutation, and from 
its rippling folds I heard it say: “Good morning, Mr. 
Flag Maker.” 

“I beg your pardon, Old Glory,” I said, parent you 
mistaken? I am not the President of the United States, 
nor a member of Congress, nor even a general in the 
army. I am only a Government clerk.” 

“I greet yomagain, Mr. Flag Maker,” replied the gay 
voice, “I know you well. You are the man who worked 
in the swelter of yesterday straightening out the tangle 
of that farmer’s homestead in Idaho, or perhaps you 
found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, 
or helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor 
in New York, or pushed the opening of that new ditch 
in Colorado, or made that mine in Illinois more safe, or 
brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. No mat¬ 
ter ; whichever one of these beneficent individuals 
you may happen to be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag 
Maker.” 

I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me 
with these words: 

“Yesterday the President spoke a word that made 
happier the future of ten million peons in Mexico; but 


♦From “The American Spirit,” published by permission of Fred¬ 
erick A. Stokes Company, publisher of Franklin K. Lane’s Addresses. 



LANE 


363 


that act looms no larger on the flag than the struggle 
which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn 
Club prize this summer. 

“Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will 
open the door of Alaska; but a mother in Michigan 
worked from sunrise until far into the night, to give her 
boy an education. She, too, is making the flag. 

“Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial 
panics, and yesterday, maybe, a school teacher in Ohio 
taught his first letters to a boy who will one day write 
a song that will give cheer to the millions of our race. 
We are all making the flag/' 

“But/’ I said impatiently, “these people were only 
working!” 

Then came a great shout from The Flag: 

“The work that we do is the making of the flag. 

“I am not the flag; not at all. I am but its shadow. 

“I am whatever you make me, nothing more. 

“I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a 
people may become. 

“I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, 
of heart breaks and tired muscles. 

“Sometimes I am strong with pride, when men do 
an honest work fitting the rails together truly. 

“Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from 
me, and cynically I play the coward. 

“Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego 
that blasts judgment. 

“But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have 
the courage to try for. 

“I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennob¬ 
ling hope. 

“I am the day’s work of the weakest man, and the 
largest dream of the most daring. 


364 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


“I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and 
the statute makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman 
and street sweep, cook, counselor, and clerk. 

“I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of 
tomorrow. 

“I am the mystery of the men who do without know¬ 
ing why. 

“I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned pur¬ 
pose of restoration. 

“I am no more than what you believe me to be and 
I am all that you believe I can be. 

“I am what you make me, nothing more. 

“I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, 
a symbol of yourself, the pictured suggestion of that 
big thing which makes this nation. My stars and my 
stripes are your dream and your labors. They are 
bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with 
faith, because you have made them so out of your 
hearts. For you are the makers of the flag and it is 
well that you glory in the making. ”*J 

* The following selections on the flag may be assigned: 

The Boy and the Flag—Edgar A. Guest. 

The Flag Goes By—-Henry Holcomb Bennett. 

Nothing But Flags—Moses Owen. 

A Song of Our Flag—Wilbur D. Nesbit. 

The Name of Old Glory—James Whitcomb Riley. 

Old Flag—Hubbard Parker. 

Flag and Cross—Alfred J. Hough. 

The Stripes and the Stars—Edna Dean Proctor. 

God Save the Flag—Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Flag—Charles Sumner. 

What Do You See When the Flag Goes By?—Williams. 

The Old Flag Forever—Frank L. Stanton. 

The Flag—Dennis A. McCarthy. 

The American Flag—Drake. 

Stand by the Flag—John Nichols Wilder. 

When Old Glory* Came to Stay—Walter S. Gard. 

The Flag on the Farm—Edgar Guest. 

Old Glory—Fred Emerson Brooks. 

The Schoolhouse and the Flag—Southwick.'l 



WILSON 


365 


y 

A PEOPLE’S WAR 
June, 1917 
Woodrow Wilson 

We meet to celebrate Flag Day because this flag 
which we honor and under which we serve is the em¬ 
blem of our unity, power, our thought and purpose as 
a nation. It has no other character than that which 
we give it from generation to generation. The choices 
are ours. It floats in majestic silence above the hosts 
that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. 
And yet, though silent, it speaks to us—speaks to us 
of the past, of the men and women who went before 
us and of the records they wrote upon it. We celebrate 
the day of its birth; and from its birth until now it has 
witnessed a great history, has floated on high the sym¬ 
bol of great events, of a great plan of life worked out 
by a great people. We are about to carry it into battle, 
to lift it where it will draw the fire of our enemies. 
We are about to bid thousands, hundreds of thousands, 
it may be millions, of our men, the young, the strong, 
the capable men of the nation, to go forth and die be¬ 
neath it on fields of blood far away,—for what? For 
some unaccustomed thing? For something for which it 
has never sought the fire before? American armies 
were never before sent across the seas. Why are they 
sent now ? For some new purpose, for which this great 
flag has never been carried before, or for some old, 
familiar, heroic purpose for which it has seen men, its 
own men, die on every battlefield upon which Americans 
have borne arms since the Revolution? 


366 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


These are questions which must be answered. We 
are Americans. We in our turn serve America, and 
can serve her with no private purpose. We must use 
her flag as she has always used it. We are accountable 
at the bar of history and must plead in utter frankness 
what purpose it is we seek to serve,.? 

It is plain enough how we were forced into the war. 
The extraordinary insults and aggressions of the im¬ 
perial German Government left us no self-respecting 
choice but to take up arms in defense of our rights as 
a free people and of our honor as a sovereign govern¬ 
ment. The military masters of Germany denied us the 
right to be neutral. They filled our unsuspecting com¬ 
munities with vicious spies and conspirators and sought 
to corrupt the opinion of our people in their own behalf. 
When they found that they could not do that, their 
agents diligently spread sedition amongst us and sought 
to draw our own citizens from their allegiance,—and 
some of those agents were men connected with the offi¬ 
cial Embassy of the German Government itself here in 
our own capital. They sought by violence to destroy 
our industries and arrest our commerce. They tried 
to incite Mexico to take up arms against us and to draw 
Japan into a hostile alliance with her,—and that, not by 
indirection, but by direct suggestion from the Foreign 
Office in Berlin. They impudently denied us the use 
of the high seas and repeatedly executed their threat 
that they would send to their death any of our people 
who ventured to approach the coasts of Europe. And 
many of our people were corrupted. Men began to look 
upon their own neighbors with suspicion and to wonder 
in their hot resentment and surprise whether there was 
any community in which hostile intrigue did not lurk. 


WILSON 


367 


What great nation in such circumstances would not 
have taken up arms? Much as we had desired peace, 
it was denied us and not of our own choice. This flag 
under which we serve would have been dishonored had 
we withheld our hand. 

But that is only part of the story. We know now as 
clearly as we knew before we were ourselves engaged 
that we are not the enemies of the German people and 
that they are not our enemies. They did not originate 
or desire this hideous war or wish that we should be 
drawn into it; and we are vaguely conscious that we 
are fighting their cause, as they will some day see it, 
as well as our own. They are themselves in the grip of 
the same sinister power that has now at last stretched 
its ugly talons out and drawn blood from us. The 
whole world is at war because the whole world is in 
the grip of that power and is trying out the great bat¬ 
tle which shall determine whether it is to be brought 
under its mastery or fling itself free. 

The war was begun by the military masters of Ger¬ 
many, who proved to be also the masters of Austria- 
Hungary. These men have never regarded nations as 
peoples, men, women and children of like blood and 
frame as themselves, for whom governments existed 
and in whom governments had their life. They have re¬ 
garded them merely as serviceable organizations which 
they could by force or intrigue bend or corrupt to their 
own purpose. They have regarded the smaller states, 
in particular, and the people who could be overwhelmed 
by force, as their natural tools and instruments of dom¬ 
ination. Their purpose has long been avowed. The 
statesmen of other nations, to whom that purpose was 
incredible, paid little attention; regarded what German 


368 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


professors expounded in their schoolrooms and German 
writers set forth to the world as the goal of German 
policy as rather the dream of minds detached from prac¬ 
tical affairs, as preposterous private conceptions of Ger¬ 
man destiny, than as the actual plans of responsible 
rulers; but the rulers of Germany themselves knew all 
the while what concrete plans, what well advanced in¬ 
trigues lay back of what the professors and the writers 
were saying, and were glad to go forward unmolest¬ 
ed, filling the thrones of Balkan States with German 
Princes, putting German officers at the service of Tur¬ 
key to drill her armies and make interest with her gov¬ 
ernment, developing plans of sedition and rebellion in 
India and Egypt, setting their fires in Persia. The de¬ 
mands made by Austria upon Serbia were a mere sin¬ 
gle step in a plan which compassed Europe and Asia, 
from Berlin to Bagdad. They hoped those demands 
might not arouse Europe, but they meant to press them 
whether they did or not, for they thought themselves 
ready for the final issue of arms. 

Their plan was to throw a broad belt of German 
military power and political control across the very cen¬ 
ter of Europe and beyond the Mediterranean into the 
heart of Asia; and Austria-Hungary was to be as 
much their tool and pawn as Serbia or Bulgaria or 
Turkey or the ponderous States of the East. Austria- 
Hungary, indeed, was to become part of the central 
German Empire, absorbed and dominated by the same 
forces and influences that had originally cemented the 
German States themselves. The dream had its heart 
at Berlin. It could have had a heart nowhere else. It 
rejected the idea of solidarity of race entirely. The 
choice of peoples played no part in it at all. It contem- 


WILSON 


369 


plated binding together racial and political units which 
could be kept together only by force,—Czechs, Mag¬ 
yars, Croats, Serbs, Roumanians, Turks, Armenians,— 
the proud men of the Balkans, the indomitable Turks, 
the subtle peoples of the East. These peoples did not 
wish to be united. They ardently desired to direct their 
own affairs, would be satisfied only by undisputed in¬ 
dependence. They could be kept quiet only by the pres¬ 
ence of the constant threat of armed men. They would 
live under a common power only by sheer compulsion 
and await the day of revolution. But the German mili¬ 
tary statesmen had reckoned with all that and were 
ready to deal with it in their own way. 

And they have actually carried the greater part of 
that amazing plan into execution! Look how things 
stand. Austria is at their mercy. It has acted, not 
upon its own initiative or upon the choice of its own 
people, but at Berlin’s dictation ever since the war be¬ 
gan. Its people now desire peace, but cannot have it 
until leave is granted from Berlin. The so-called Cen¬ 
tral Powers are in fact but a single power. Serbia is 
at its mercy, should its hands be but for a moment 
freed. Bulgaria has consented to its will, and Rou- 
mania is overrun. The Turkish armies, which Ger¬ 
mans trained, are serving Germany, certainly not them¬ 
selves, and the guns of German warships lying in the 
harbor at Constantinople remind Turkish statesmen 
every day that they have no choice but to take their 
orders from Berlin. From Hamburg to the Persian 
Gulf the net is spread. 

Is it not easy to understand the eagerness for peace 
that has been manifested from Berlin ever since the 
snare was set and sprung? Peace, peace, peace has 
been the talk of her Foreign Office for now a year and 


370 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


more; not peace upon her own initiative, but upon the 
initiative of the nations over which she now deems her¬ 
self to hold the advantage. A little of the talk has been 
public, but most of it has been private. Through all 
sorts of channels it has come to me, and in all sorts of 
guises, but never with the terms disclosed which the 
German Government would be willing to accept. That 
government has other valuable pawns in its hands be¬ 
sides those I have mentioned. It still holds a valuable 
part of France, though with slowly relaxing grasp, and 
practically the whole of Belgium. Its armies press close 
upon Russia and overrun Poland at their will. It can¬ 
not go farther; it dare not go back. It wishes to close 
its bargain before it is too late and it has little left to 
offer for the pound of flesh it will demand. 

The military masters under whom Germany is bleed¬ 
ing see very clearly to what point fate has brought 
them. If they fall back or are forced back an inch, 
their power both abroad and at home will fall to pieces 
like a house of cards. It is their power at home they 
are thinking about now more than their power abroad. 
It is that power which is trembling under their very 
feet; and deep fear has entered their hearts. They have 
but one chance to perpetuate their military power or 
even their controlling political influence. If they can 
secure peace now with the immense advantages still in 
their hands which they have up to this point appar¬ 
ently gained, they will have justified themselves before 
the German people: they will have gained by force 
what they promised to gain by it: an immense expan¬ 
sion of German power, an immense enlargement of 
German industrial and commercial opportunities. Their 
prestige will be secure, and with their prestige their po¬ 
litical power. If they fail, their people will thrust them 


WILSON 


371 


aside; a government accountable to the people them¬ 
selves will be set up in Germany as it has been in Eng¬ 
land, in the United States, in France, and in all the 
great countries of the modern time except Germany. 
If they succeed they are safe and Germany and the 
world are undone; if they fail Germany is saved and 
the world will be at peace. If they succeed, America 
will fall within the menace. We and all the rest of the 
world must remain armed, as they will remain, and 
must make ready for the next step in their aggression; 
if they fail, the world may unite for peace and Ger¬ 
many may be of the union. 

Do you not now understand the new intrigue, the 
intrigue for peace, and why the masters of Germany 
do not hesitate to use any agency that promises to effect 
their purpose, the deceit of the nations ? Their present 
particular aim is to deceive all those who throughout 
the world stand for the rights of people and the self- 
government of nations; for they see what immense 
strength the forces of justice and of liberalism are gath¬ 
ering out of the war. They are employing liberals in 
their enterprise. They are using men, in Germany and 
without, as their spokesmen whom they have hitherto 
despised and oppressed, using them for their own de¬ 
struction,—socialists, the leaders of labor, the thinkers 
they have hitherto sought to silence. Let them once 
succeed and these men, now their tools, will be ground 
to powder beneath the weight of the great military em¬ 
pire they have set up; the revolutionists in Russia will 
be cut off from all succor or co-operation in Western 
Europe and a counter revolution fostered and support¬ 
ed; Germany herself will lose her chance for freedom; 
and all Europe will arm for the next, the final struggle. 


372 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


The sinister intrigue is being no less actively con¬ 
ducted in this country than in Russia and in every 
country in Europe to which the agents and dupes of 
the Imperial German Government can get access. That 
government has many spokesmen here, in places high 
and low. They have learned discretion. They keep 
within the law. It is opinion they utter now, not sedi¬ 
tion. They proclaim the liberal purposes of their mas¬ 
ters ; declare this a foreign war which can touch Amer¬ 
ica with no danger to either her lands or her institu¬ 
tions; set England at the center of the stage and talk 
of her ambition to assert economic dominion through¬ 
out the world; appeal to our ancient traditions of iso¬ 
lation in the politics of the nations; and seek to under¬ 
mine the government with false professions of loyalty 
to its principles. 

But they will make no headway. The false betray 
themselves always in every accent. It is only friends 
and partisans of the German Government whom we 
have already identified who utter these thinly disguised 
disloyalties. The facts are patent to all the world, and 
nowhere are they more plainly seen than in the United 
States, where we are accustomed to deal with facts and 
not with sophistries; and the great fact that stands out 
above all the rest is that this is a people’s war, a war 
for freedom and justice and self-government amongst 
all the nations of the world, a war to make the world 
safe for the peoples who live upon it and have made 
it their own, the German people themselves included; 
and that with us rests the choice to break through all 
these hypocrisies and patent cheats and masks of brute 
force and help set the world free, or else stand aside 
and let it be dominated a long age through by sheer 


WILSON 


373 


weight of arms and the arbitrary choices of self-consti¬ 
tuted masters by the nation which can maintain the 
biggest armies and the most irresistible armaments,— 
a power to which the world has afforded no parallel 
and in the face of which political freedom must wither 
and perish. 

For us there is but one choice. We have made it. 
Woe be to the man or group of men that seeks to stand 
in our way in this day of high resolution when every 
principle we hold dearest is to be vindicated and made 
secure for the nations. We are ready to plead at the 
bar of history, and our flag shall wear a new luster. 
Once more we shall make good with our lives and for¬ 
tunes the great faith to which we were born, and a new 
glory shall shine in the face of our people. 

AMERICA’S PLEDGE* 

Woodrow Wilson 


Fellow Citizens: 

This is the anniversary of our acceptance of Ger¬ 
many’s challenge to fight for our right to live and be 
free, and for the sacred rights of free men everywhere. 
The Nation is awake. There is no need to call to it. 
We know what the war must cost, our utmost sacrifice, 
the lives of our fittest men, and, if need be, all that 
we possess. 

The loan we are met to discuss is one of the least 
parts of what we are called upon to give and to do, 
though in itself imperative. The people of the whole 
country are alive to the necessity of it and are ready 
to lend to the utmost, even where it involves a sharp 

* A speech delivered at Baltimore, April 6, 1918. 



374 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


skimping and daily sacrifice to lend out of meager earn¬ 
ings. They will look with reprobation and contempt 
upon those who can and will not, upon those who de¬ 
mand a higher rate of interest, upon those who think 
of it as a mere commercial transaction. I have not 
come, therefore, to urge the loan. I have come only 
to give you, if I can, a more vivid conception of what 
it is for. 

The reasons for this great war, the reason why it 
had to come, the need to fight it through, and the issues 
that hang upon its outcome, are more clearly disclosed 
now than ever before. It is easy to see just what this 
particular loan means, because the cause we are fight¬ 
ing for stands, and what the imperishable thing he is 
asked to invest in is. Men in America may be more 
sure than they ever were before that the cause is their 
own, and that, if it should be lost, their own great na¬ 
tion’s place and mission in the world would be lost 
with it. 

I call you to witness, my fellow countrymen, that at 
no stage of this terrible business have I judged the pur¬ 
poses of Germany intemperately I should be ashamed 
in the presence of affairs so grave, so fraught with the 
destinies of mankind throughout all the world, to speak 
with truculence, to use the weak language of hatred or 
vindictive purpose. We must judge as we would be 
judged. I have sought to learn the objects Germany 
has in this war from the mouths of her own spokes¬ 
men, and to deal as frankly with them as I wished them 
to deal with me. I have laid bare our own ideals, 
our own purposes, without reserve, or doubtful phrase’ 
and have asked them to say as plainly what it is that 
they seek. 


WILSON 


375 


We have ourselves proposed no injustice, no aggres¬ 
sion. We are ready, whenever the final reckoning is 
made, to be just to the German people, deal fairly with 
the German power, as with all others. There can be 
no difference between peoples in the final judgment, 
if it is indeed to be a righteous judgment. To propose 
anything but justice, even-handed and dispassionate 
justice, to Germany at any time, whatever the outcome 
of the war, would be to renounce and dishonor our own 
cause, for we ask nothing that we are not willing to 
accord. 

It has been with this thought that I have sought to 
learn from those who spoke for Germany whether it 
was justice or dominion and the execution of their own 
will upon the other nations of the world that the Ger¬ 
man leaders were seeking. They have answered—an¬ 
swered in unmistakable terms. They have avowed that 
it was not justice, but dominion and the unhindered ex¬ 
ecution of their own will. 

The avowal has not come from Germany’s states¬ 
men. It has come from her military leaders, who are 
her real rulers. Her statesmen have said that they 
wished peace, and were ready to discuss its terms when¬ 
ever their opponents were willing to sit down at the 
conference table with them. Her present Chancellor 
has said—in indefinite and uncertain terms, indeed, and 
in phrases that often seem to deny their own meaning, 
but with as much plainness as he thought prudent— 
that he believed that peace should be based upon the 
principles which we had declared would be our own in 
the final settlement. 

At Brest-Litovsk her civilian delegates spoke in sim¬ 
ilar terms; professed their desire to conclude a fair 


376 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


peace and accord to the peoples with whose fortunes 
they were dealing the right to choose their own alle¬ 
giances. But action accompanied and followed the pro¬ 
fession. Their military masters, the men who act for 
Germany and exhibit her purpose in execution, pro¬ 
claimed a very different conclusion. We cannot mis¬ 
take what they have done—in Russia, in Finland, in 
the Ukraine, in Roumania. The real test of their jus¬ 
tice and fair play has come. From this we may judge 
the rest. 

They are enjoying in Russia a cheap triumph in which 
no brave or gallant nation can long take pride. A great 
people, helpless by their own act, lies for the time at 
their mercy. Their fair professions are forgotten. They 
nowhere set up justice, but everywhere impose their 
power and exploit everything for their own use and 
aggrandizement, and the peoples of conquered provinces 
are invited to be free under their dominion. 

Are we not justified in believing that they would do 
the same things at their western front if they were not 
there face to face with armies whom even their count¬ 
less divisions cannot overcome? If, when they have felt 
their check to be final, they should propose favorable 
and equitable terms with regard to Belgium and France 
and Italy, could they blame us if we concluded that they 
did so only to assure themselves of a free hand in Rus¬ 
sia and the East? 

Their purpose is, undoubtedly, to make all the Slavic 
people, all the free and ambitious nations in the Baltic 
Peninsula, all the lands that Turkey has dominated and 
misruled, subject to their will and ambition, and build 
upon that dominion an empire of force upon which they 
fancy that they can then erect an empire of gain and 


WILSON 


377 


commercial supremacy — an empire as hostile to the 
Americas as to the Europe which it will over-awe—an 
empire which will ultimately master Persia, India, and 
the peoples of the Far East. 

In such a program our ideals, the ideals of justice 
and humanity and liberty, the principle of the free self- 
determination of nations, upon which all the modern 
world insists, can play no part. They are rejected for 
the ideals of power, for the principle that the strong 
must rule the weak, that trade must follow the flag, 
whether those to whom it is taken welcome it or not, 
that the peoples of the world are to be made subject to 
the patronage and overlordship of those who have the 
power to enforce it. 

That program once carried out, America and all who 
care to dare to stand with her must arm and prepare 
themselves to contest the mastery of the world—a mas¬ 
tery in which the rights of common men, the rights of 
women and of all who are weak, must for the time be¬ 
ing be trodden under foot and disregarded and the old, 
age-long struggle for freedom and right begin again 
at its beginning. Everything that America has lived 
for and loved and grown great to vindicate and bring 
to a glorious realization will have fallen in utter ruin 
and the gates of mercy once more pitilessly shut upon 
mankind! 

The thing is preposterous and impossible; and yet is 
not that what the whole course and action of the Ger¬ 
man armies have meant wherever they have moved? 
I do not wish, even in this moment of utter disillusion¬ 
ment, to judge harshly or unrighteously. I judge only 
what the German arms have accomplished with unpity- 


378 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

ing thoroughness throughout every fair region they 
have touched. 

What, then, are we to do? For myself, I am ready, 
ready still, ready even now, to discuss a fair and just 
and honest peace at any time that it is sincerely pro¬ 
posed—a peace in which the strong and the weak shall 
fare alike. But the answer, when I proposed such a 
peace, came from the German commanders in Russia, 
and I cannot mistake the meaning of the answer. 

I accept the challenge. I know that you accept it. 
All the world shall know that you accept it. It shall 
appear in the utter sacrifice and self-forgetfulness with 
which we shall give all that we love and all that we have 
to redeem the world and make it fit for free men like 
ourselves to live in. This now is the meaning of all 
that we do. Let everything that we say, my fellow 
countrymen, everything that we henceforth plan and 
accomplish, ring true to this response till the majesty 
and might of our concerted power shall fill the thought 
and utterly defeat the force of those who flout and mis¬ 
prize what we honor and hold dear. 

Germany has once more said that force, and force 
alone, shall decide whether justice and peace shall reign 
in the affairs of men, whether right as America con¬ 
ceives it or dominion as she conceives it shall determine 
the destinies of mankind. There is, therefore, but one 
response possible for us: Force, force to the utmost, 
force without stint or limit, the righteous and trium¬ 
phant force which shall make right the law of the world 
and cast every selfish dominion down in the dust. 


WILSON 379 

THESE LISTS OF HONOR 
Woodrow Wilson 

The power against which we are arrayed has sought 
to impose its will upon the world by force. To this 
end it has increased armament until it has changed the 
face of war. In the sense in which we have been wont 
to think of armies there are no armies in this struggle. 
There are entire nations armed. Thus, the men who 
remain to till the soil and man the factories are no less 
a part of the army that is in France than the men be¬ 
neath the battle flags. It must be so with us. It is not 
an army that we must shape and train for war; it is 
a nation. To this end our people must draw close in 
one compact front against a common foe. But this 
cannot be if each man pursues a private purpose. All 
must pursue one purpose. The Nation needs all men; 
but it needs each man, not in the field that will most 
pleasure him, but in the endeavor that will best serve 
the common good. Thus, though a sharpshooter pleases 
to operate a trip-hammer for the forging of great guns, 
and an expert machinist desires to march with the flag, 
the Nation is being served only when the sharpshooter 
marches and the machinist remains at his labors. The 
whole Nation must be a team in which each man shall 
play the part for which he is best fitted. To this end, 
Congress has provided that the Nation shall be organ¬ 
ized for war by selection and that each man shall De 
classified for service in the place to which it shall best 
serve the general good to call him. 

The significance of this cannot be overstated. It is 
a new thing in our history and a landmark in our prog¬ 
ress. It is a new manner of accepting and vitalizing 




380 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


our duty to give ourselves with thoughtful devotion to 
the common purpose of us all. It is in no sense a con¬ 
scription of the unwilling; it is, rather, selection from 
a nation which has volunteered in mass. It is no more 
a choosing of those who shall march with the colors 
than it is a selection of those who shall serve an equally 
necessary and devoted purpose in the industries that lie 
behind the battle line. 

The day here named is the time upon which all shall 
present themselves for assignment to their tasks. It 
is for that reason destined to be remembered as one of 
the most conspicuous moments in our history. It is 
nothing less than the day upon which the manhood of 
the country shall step forward in one solid rank in de¬ 
fense of the ideals to which this Nation is consecrated. 
It is important to those ideals no less than to the pride 
of this generation in manifesting its devotion to them, 
that there be no gaps in the ranks. 

It is essential that the day be approached in thought¬ 
ful apprehension of its significance and that we accord 
to it the honor and the meaning that it deserves. Our 
industrial need prescribes that it be not made a tech¬ 
nical holiday, but the stern sacrifice that is before us 
urges that it be carried in all our hearts as a great day 
of patriotic devotion and obligation when the duty shall 
lie upon every man, whether he is himself to be regis¬ 
tered or not, to see to it that the name of every male 
person of the designated ages is written on these lists 
of honor. 


SOLDIERS OF FREEDOM 

To the Soldiers of the National Army: 

You are undertaking a great duty. The heart of the 


WILSON 


381 


whole country is with you. Everything that you do 
will be watched with the deepest interest and with the 
deepest solicitude, not only by those who are near and 
dear to you, but by the whole Naticn besides. For this 
great war draws us all together, makes us all comrades 
and brothers, as all true Americans felt themselves to 
be when we first made good our national independence. 
The eyes of all the world will be upon you, because you 
are in some special sense the soldiers of freedom. 

Let it be your pride, therefore, to show all men every¬ 
where not only what good soldiers you are, but also 
what good men you are, keeping yourselves fit and 
straight in everything and pure and clean through and 
through. Let us set for ourselves a standard so high 
that it will be a glory to live up to it and then let us 
live up to it and add a new laurel to the crown of 
America. 

My affectionate confidence goes with you in every 
battle and every test. God keep and guide you! 

WOODROW WILSON. 


382 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 




WHY WE ARE AT WAR* 

By Franklin K. Lane 

Why are we fighting Germany? The brief answer 
is that ours is a war of self-defense. We did not wish 
to fight Germany. She made the attack upon us; not 
on our shores, but on our ships, our lives, our rights, 
our future. For two years and more we held to a neu¬ 
trality that made us apologists for things which out¬ 
raged man’s common sense of fair play and humanity. 
At each new offense—the invasion of Belgium, the kill¬ 
ing of civilian Belgians, the attacks on Scarborough 
and other defenseless towns, the laying of mines in neu¬ 
tral waters, the fencing off of the seas—and on and on 
through the months we said: “This is war—archaic, 
uncivilized war, but war! All rules have been thrown 
away; all nobility; man has come down to the primi¬ 
tive brute. And while we can not justify we will not 
intervene. It is not our war.” 

Then why are we in? Because we could not keep 
out. The invasion of Belgium, which opened the war, 
led to the invasion of the United States by slow, steady, 
logical steps. Our sympathies evolved into a conviction 
of self-defense. Our love of fair play ripened into alarm 
at our own peril. 

We talked in the language and in the spirit of good 
faith and sincerity, as honest men should talk, until we 
discovered that our talk was construed as cowardice. 


♦From “The American Spirit,” published by permission of Fred¬ 
erick A. Stokes Company, publisher of Franklin K. Lane’s Addresses. 




LANE 


383 


And Mexico was called upon to invade us. We talked 
as men would talk who cared alone for peace and the 
advancement of their own material interests, until we 
discovered that we were thought to be a nation of mere 
money makers, devoid of all character—until, indeed, 
we were told that we could not walk the highways of 
the world without permission of a Prussian soldier; 
that our ships might not sail without wearing a striped 
uniform of humiliation upon a narrow path of national 
subservience. We talked as men talk who hope for hon¬ 
est agreement, not for war, until we found that the 
treaty torn to pieces at Liege was but the symbol of a 
policy that made agreements worthless against a pur¬ 
pose that knew no word but success. 

And so we came into this war for ourselves. It is 
a war to save America—to preserve self-respect, to jus¬ 
tify our right to live as we have lived, not as some one 
else wishes us to live. In the name of freedom we chal¬ 
lenge with ships and men, money, and an undaunted 
spirit, that word “Verboten” which Germany has writ¬ 
ten upon the sea and upon the land. For America is 
not the name of so much territory. It is a living spirit, 
born in travail, grown in the rough school of bitter ex¬ 
periences, a living spirit which has purpose and pride, 
and conscience—knows why it wishes to live and to 
what end, knows how it comes to be respected of the 
world, and hopes to retain that respect by living on 
with the light of Lincoln’s love of man as its Old and 
New Testament. It is more precious that this America 
should live than that we Americans should live. And 
this America, as we now see, has been challenged from 
the first of this war by the strong arm of a power that 
has no sympathy with our purpose and will not hesitate 


384 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


to destroy us if the law that we respect, the rights that 
are to us sacred, or the spirit that we have, stand 
across her set will to make this world bow before hei 
policies, backed by her organized and scientific military 
system. The world of Christ—a neglected but not a re¬ 
jected Christ—has come again face to face with the 
world of Mahomet, who willed to win by force. 

With this background of history and in this sense, 
then, we fight Germany— j 

Because of Belgium—invaded, outraged, enslaved, 
impoverished Belgium. We can not forget Liege, Lou¬ 
vain, and Cardinal Mercier. Translated into terms of 
American history, these names stand for Bunker Hill, 
Lexington and Patrick Henry. 

Because of France—invaded, desecrated France, a 
million of whose heroic sons have died to save the land 
of Lafayette. Glorious golden France, the preserver of 
the arts, the land of noble spirit—the first land to fol-j 
low our lead into republican liberty. 

Because of England—from whom came the laws, tra¬ 
ditions, standards of life, and inherent love of liberty 
which we call Anglo-Saxon civilization. We defeated 
her once upon the land and once upon the sea. But 
Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and Canada are free 
because of what we did. And they are with us in the 
fight for the freedom of the seas. 

Because of Russia—New Russia. She must not be 
overwhelmed now. Not now, surely, when she is just 
born into freedom. Her peasants must have their 
chance; they must go to school to Washington, to Jef¬ 
ferson, and to Lincoln until they know their way about 
in this new, strange world of government by the pop¬ 
ular will. 


LANE 


385 


Because of other peoples, with their rising hope that 
the world may be freed from government by the soldier. 

We are fighting Germany because she sought to ter¬ 
rorize us and then to fool us. We could not believe 
that Germany would do what she said she would do 
upon the seas. 

We still hear the piteous cries of children coming up 
out of the sea where the Lusitania went down. And 
Germany has never asked forgiveness of the world. 

We saw the Sussex sunk, crowded with the sons and 
daughters of neutral nations. 

We saw ship after ship sent to the bottom—ships of 
mercy bound out of America for the Belgian starving; 
ships carrying the Red Cross and laden with the wound¬ 
ed of all nations; ships carrying food and clothing to 
friendly, harmless, terrorized peoples; ships flying the 
Stars and Stripes—sent to the bottom hundreds of miles 
from shore, manned by American seamen, murdered 
against all law, without warning. 

We believed Germany’s promise that she would re¬ 
spect the neutral flag and the rights of neutrals, and we 
held our anger and outrage in check. But now we see 
that she was holding us off with fair promises until she 
could build her huge fleet of submarines. For when 
spring came she blew her promise into the air, just as 
at the beginning she had torn up that scrap of paper. 
Then we saw clearly that there was but one law for 
Germany—her will to rule. 

We are fighting Germany because she violated our 
confidence. Paid German spies filled our cities. Offi - 
cials of her government, received as the guests of the 
Nation, lived with us to bribe and terrorize, defying 
our law and the law of nations. 


386 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


We are fighting Germany because while we were yet 
her friends—the only great power that still held hands 
off—she sent the Zimmermann note, calling to her aid 
Mexico, our southern neighbor, and hoping to lure Jap¬ 
an, our western neighbor, into war against the Nation 
of peace. 

The nation that would do these things proclaims the 
gospel that government has no conscience. And this 
doctrine can not live, or else democracy must die. For 
the nations of the world must keep faith. There can 
be no living for us in a world where the state has no 
conscience, no reverence for the things of the spirit, no 
respect for international law, no mercy for those who 
fall before its force. What an unordered world! An¬ 
archy ! The anarchy of rival wolf packs! 

We are fighting Germany because in this war feudal¬ 
ism is making its last stand against on-coming democ¬ 
racy. We see it now. This is a war against an old 
spirit, an ancient, outgrown spirit. It is a war against 
feudalism—the right of the castle on the hill to rule the 
village below. It is a war for democracy—the right of 
all to be their own masters. Let Germany be feudal if 
she will, but she must not spread her system over the 
world that has outgrown it. Feudalism plus science, 
thirteenth century plus twentieth—this is the religion 
of the mistaken Germany that has linked itself with the 
Turk; that has, too, adopted the method of Mahomet. 
“The state has no conscience.” “The state can do no 
wrong.” With poison gas that makes living a hell, with 
submarines that sneak through the seas to slyly murder 
non-combatants, with dirigibles that bombard men and 
women while they sleep, with a perfected system of ter¬ 
rorization that the modern world first heard of when 


ROOSEVELT 


387 


German troops entered China, German feudalism is 
making war upon mankind. Let this old spirit have 
its way and no man will live in America without pay¬ 
ing toll to it in manhood and in money. This spirit 
might demand Canada from a defeated, navyless Eng¬ 
land, and then our dream of peace on the north would 
be at an end. We would live, as France has lived for 
forty years, in haunting horror. 

America speaks for the world in fighting Germany. 
Mark on a map those countries which are Germany’s 
allies and you will mark but four, running from the Bal¬ 
tic through Austria and Bulgaria to Turkey. All the 
other nations the whole globe around are in arms 
against her or are unable to move. There is deep 
meaning in this. We fight with the world for an hon¬ 
est world in which nations keep their word, for a world 
in which nations do not live by swagger or by threat, 
for a world in which men think of the ways in which 
f they can conquer the common cruelties of nature in- 
’ stead of inventing more horrible cruelties to inflict upon 
the spirit and body of man, for a world in which the am¬ 
bition or the philosophy of a few shall not make miser¬ 
able all mankind, for a world in which the man is held 
more precious than the machine, the system, or the state. 

THE GREAT ADVENTURE* 

Theodore Roosevelt 

Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die; and 
none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of 
life and the duty of life. Both life and death are parts 

* From “The Great Adventure.” Copyrighted by Charles Scrib¬ 
ner’s Sons. By permission of the publishers. 



388 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


of the same Great Adventure. Never yet was worthy 
adventure worthily carried through by the man who 
put his personal safety first. Never yet was a country 
worth living in unless its sons and daughters were of 
that stern stuff which bade them die for it at need; 
and never yet was a country worth dying for unless its 
sons and daughters thought of life not as something 
concerned only with the selfish evanescence of the indi¬ 
vidual, but as a link in the great chain of creation and 
causation, so that each person is seen in his true rela¬ 
tions as an essential part of the whole, whose life must 
be made to serve the larger and continuing life of the 
whole. Therefore it is that the man who is not willing 
to die, and the woman who is not willing to send her 
man to die, in a war of great cause, are not worthy to 
live. Therefore it is that the man and woman who in 
peace-time fear or ignore the primary and vital duties 
and the high happiness of family life, who dare not be¬ 
get and bear and rear the life that is to last when they 
are in their graves, have broken the chain of creation* 
and have shown that they are unfit for companionship 
with the souls ready for the Great Adventure. 

The wife of a fighting soldier at the front recently 
wrote as follows to the mother of a gallant boy, who at 
the front had fought in the air like an eagle, and, like 
an eagle, fighting had died: 

“I write these few lines—not of condolence, for who 
would dare to pity you?—but of deepest sympathy to 
you and yours as you stand in the shadow which is 
the earthly side of those clouds of glory in which your 
son’s life has just passed. Many will envy you that 
when the call to sacrifice came you were not found 
among the paupers to whom no gift of life worth offer- 


ROOSEVELT 


389 


ing had been entrusted. They are the ones to be pitied, 
not we whose dearest are jeopardizing their lives unto 
the death in the high places of the field. I hope my two 
sons will live as worthily and die as greatly as yours.” 

Then spoke one dauntless soul to another! America 
is safe while her daughters are of this kind; for their 
lovers and their sons cannot fail, as long as beside the 
hearthstones stand such wives and mothers. And we 
have many, many such women; and their men are like 
unto them. 

With all my heart I believe in the joy of living; but 
those who achieve it do not seek it as an end in itself, 
but as a seized and prized incident of hard work well 
done and of risk and danger never wantonly courted, 
but never shirked when duty commands that they be 
faced. And those who have earned joy, but are reward¬ 
ed only with sorrow, must learn the stern comfort dear 
to great souls, the comfort that springs from the knowl¬ 
edge taught in times of iron that the law of worthy liv¬ 
ing is not fulfilled by pleasure, but by service, and by 
sacrifice when only thereby can service be rendered. 

No nation can be great unless its sons and daughters 
have in them the quality to rise level to the needs of 
heroic days. Yet this heroic quality is but the apex of 
a pyramid of which the broad foundations must solidly 
rest on the performance of duties so ordinary that to 
impatient minds they seem commonplace. No army was 
ever great unless its soldiers possessed the fighting 
edge. But the finest natural fighting edge is utterly 
useless unless the soldiers and the junior officers have 
been through months, and the officers of higher com¬ 
mand and the general staff through years, of hard, 
weary, intensive training. So likewise the citizenship 
of any country is worthless unless in a crisis it shows 


390 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


the spirit of the two million Americans who in this 
mighty war have eagerly come forward to serve under 
the Banner of the Stars, afloat and ashore, and of the 
other millions who would now be beside them over-seas 
if the chance had been given them; and yet such spirit 
will in the long run avail nothing unless in the years 
of peace the average man and average woman of the 
duty-performing type realize that the highest of all du¬ 
ties, the one essential duty, is the duty of perpetuating 
the family life, based on the mutual love and respect of 
the one man and the one woman, and on their purpose 
to rear the healthy and fine-souled children whose com¬ 
ing into life means that the family and, therefore, the 
nation shall continue in life and shall not end in a 
sterile death. 

In America today all our people are summoned to 
service and sacrifice. Pride is the portion only of those 
who know bitter sorrow or the foreboding of bitter 
sorrow. But all of us who give service, and stand ready 
for sacrifice, are the torch-bearers. We run with the 
torches until we fall, content if we can then pass them 
to the hands of other runners. The torches whose flame 
is brightest are borne by the gallant men at the front, 
and by the gallant women whose husbands and lov¬ 
ers, whose sons and brothers are at the front. These 
men are high of soul, as they face their fate on the 
shell-shattered earth, or in the skies above or in the 
waters beneath; and no less high of soul are the wom¬ 
en with torn hearts and shining eyes; the girls whose 
boy lovers have been struck down in their golden morn¬ 
ing, and the mothers and wives to whom word has been 
brought that henceforth they must walk in the shadow. 

These are the torch-bearers; these are they who have 
dared the Great Adventure. 



POOR VOTER ON ELECTION DAY 391 


THE POOR VOTER ON ELECTION DAY* 

By John Greenleaf Whittier 

The proudest now is but my peer, 

The highest not more high; 

To-day, of all the weary year, 

A king of men am I. 

To-day alike are great and small, 

The nameless and the known! 

My place is the people’s hall, 

The ballot-box my throne! 

Who serves to-day upon the list 
Beside the served shall stand; 

Alike the brown and wrinkled fist, 

The gloved and dainty hand! 

The rich is level with the poor, 

The weak is strong to-day, 

And sleekest broadcloth counts no more 
Than homespun frock of gray. 

To-day let pomp and vain pretence 
My stubborn right abide; 

I set a plain man’s common sense 
Against the pedant’s pride. 

To-day shall simple manhood try 
The strength of gold and land; 

The wide world has not wealth to buy 
The power in my right hand! 

* Used by permission of, and by arrangement with, the Houghton 
Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers of Whittier’s poems. 



392 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


While there’s a grief to seek redress, 

Or balance to adjust, 

Where weighs our living manhood less 
Than Mammon’s vilest dust,— 

While there’s a right to need my vote, 

A wrong to sweep away, 

Up! clouted knee and ragged coat! 

A man’s a man today. 

ARMISTICE DAY MESSAGE 
By John R. Quinn 

National Commander, American Legion 
November 11, 1923 

Five years ago the war ended—officially. However, 
it has not really ended, nor can it end until the prin¬ 
ciples for which our soldiers fought have been fulfilled 
to the utmost. 

It is fitting that on this day we should rededicate 
ourselves to “carrying on” by solemn declaration with¬ 
in our own consciences. To do your part today in this 
re-pledging to principle, pause for a moment and recall 
the principles for which our men went willingly to the 
chance of death—many to die. 

You remember the phrase on their lips and in their 
hearts: “a war to end war.” Yet wars are not ended. 
They went beyond the seas into a hell of death and de¬ 
struction that their sons and daughters and the sons 
and daughters of their brothers might be spared a like 
horror in time to come. Yet today there is no guar¬ 
anty, no certainty that another war will not be forced 
upon this nation, or any nation, at some future time. 

The American Legion pledged itself at its last annual 


393 


ARMISTICE DAY MESSAGE 

convention to strive unceasingly for peace. This does 
not mean that we have joined the ranks of those so- 
called pacifists of war-time memory. Far from it. As 
long as conditions may make war necessary to protect 
our nation from aggression or oppression, we stand 
ready, nay, anxious, to answer the call to arms. But 
we strive toward an era when our nation and all na¬ 
tions may live and fulfill their destinies without injus¬ 
tice, oppression or the necessity to protect themselves 
from such by force. 

The American Legion pledged itself to no one plan 
to end war. Neither does it ask that you do so. It is 
a question upon which opinions differ; each must act 
according to his belief. 

But we do ask that you, upon this Armistice Day, 
take solemn resolve that you will leave no act undone 
or word unsaid that may advance, even in the smallest 
degree, the era of perpetual peace. You may not have 
the opportunity of speaking from a platform, but this 
does not excuse you. If you have one neighbor, one 
friend, whom you can convert to the cause of peace and 
fail to do so, then you have not kept faith with those 
who “sleep in Flanders Fields.” 

There is an organization, international, of fighting 
men of the allied armies. This organization has de¬ 
clared that, once brothers in arms, they are today 
brothers in peace. Nearly every nation which stood side 
by side in the World War is represented. Here is a 
nucleus. But the nucleus is not sufficient in itself. It 
requires the active help of world opinion. When the 
demand for perpetual peace is made, THE business, 
THE most urgent demand of every man, woman and 
child, then will lasting peace come. 


394 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


I ask that NOW you solemnly enlist this greatest ( 
cause of all time, the ending of war. Thus, and thus 
only, can you keep faith with those who kept faith with 
you in the time of your greatest need. 


A SONNET TO THE AMERICAN LEGION* 

The paths your fathers trod are dear to all 
Who come to live and learn that sturdy trait 

From which spring victors to a Nation’s call 
When conquerors order tribute from your State. 

’Tis well your children, each and all, are taught 
The windings of that old but well-blazed trail,— 

That same thru which your Nation’s life was wrought 
By stalwart men who knew no word as Fail. 

Upon the folds of your own Stars and Stripes, 
Revered for deeds of valor and of right, 

Are carved the laurels hung there in the heights 
By warriors first in honor, love, and might. 

Oh! be ye proud to write in Fame’s great Hall: 

“Your sons are as your fathers, Patriots all.” 


♦Printed by permission of Capt. Anson J. Smalley, 42nd 
A. E. F. 


Div., 



WOOD 


395 


A FEW MODERN ADDRESSES HERE 
AND THERE 

I 

EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP* 

Will C. Wood 

One hundred and forty-seven years ago today the 
forefathers of our republic, in Congress assembled, 
adopted a declaration dissolving the political bonds 
which had united them to the mother country, and de¬ 
claring that the thirteen American commonwealths, 
“are and of right ought to be free and independent 
states.” Coupled with their bold assertion of national 
independence was a statement of political philosophy 
no less bold, considering the time and circumstances. 
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” reads the 
great declaration—“that all men are created equal, that 
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalien¬ 
able rights, among which are life, liberty and the pur¬ 
suit of happiness; that to secure these rights, govern¬ 
ments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed.” By this 
solemn declaration the forefathers committed the nation 

* An address delivered at the Greek Theater, University of Cali¬ 
fornia, on July 4, 1923, by Hon. Will C. Wood, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, State of California, and published as a patriotic 
document by the United States Naturalization Service, San Francisco, 
Calif., for distribution by its Educational Representative, Mrs. Anne 
M. Godfrey, in connection with the Americanization work being done 
by her for the United States Department of Labor. 

Printed by permission of Hon. Will C. Wood, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, State of California. 



396 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


they founded to the principles of democracy; they bound 
themselves to establish upon this continent under the 
aegis of America “a government of the people, by the 
people and for the people.” 

It was a mighty task our forefathers undertook. No 
government based on the consent of the governed had 
ever been successful. Political philosophers of every age 
had decried democracy on the ground that the people 
lack political wisdom. To deserve the support and loy¬ 
alty of a people any government must possess, among 
other things, this attribute of wisdom. Early in the 
history of America it became apparent that the political 
philosophers were at least half right—that government 
by the people must fail unless knowledge is generally 
diffused. James Madison in one of his justly famous 
political letters declared that a satisfactory plan for 
primary education is a vital desideratum in a republic. 
“A popular government,” he said, “without popular 
information or the means of acquiring it, is but a pro¬ 
logue to a farce or tragedy or, perhaps, both. Knowl¬ 
edge will forever govern ignorance and a people who 
mean to be their own governors must arm themselves 
with the power which knowledge gives.” Washington 
also recognized education as a prime necessity in a re¬ 
public. In his Farewell Address to the American people 
in 1796 he enjoined the maintenance of a general sys¬ 
tem of education—“Promote then,” he said, “as an 
object of primary importance, institutions for the gen¬ 
eral diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the struc¬ 
ture of government gives force to public opinion, it is 
essential that public opinion should be enlightened.” It 
is therefore singularly appropriate that this great con¬ 
gress of teachers, whose duty is to pass on and promote 


WOOD 


397 


the great American tradition and lead the people into 
ways of knowledge and wisdom, should give a part of 
this national anniversary to consideration of the prob¬ 
lem of making our schools serve more fully the ideals 
of American citizenship. Upon the teachers of America 
rests the responsibility for making the American people 
fit to govern themselves; for realizing the principle of 
equality of opportunity in American life; and for mak¬ 
ing secure the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the 
pursuit of happiness. We are special trustees of the 
ideals of the Declaration of Independence. 

While the early statesmen of America had great faith 
in education as a means for realizing the purposes of 
democracy, they were somewhat indefinite as to ways 
in which education was to serve these purposes. Wash¬ 
ington, Jefferson and Madison had faith in knowledge 
but were not specific as to the kind of knowledge to be 
inculcated in the minds of Americans to fit them for 
civic responsibilities. Nowhere do we find in the early 
state papers of America any direct reference to specific 
education for civic duties. Our forefathers it seems 
assumed that good citizenship is a by-product of edu¬ 
cation and that the special study of institutions in prep¬ 
aration for citizenship is unnecessary. It was not until 
1822, that a textbook in American history appeared, 
nor until 1828, that a brief catechism on the Constitu¬ 
tion of the United States found its place in the schools. 
Until quite recently, specific preparation for citizenship 
in the United States was represented almost wholly by 
a rather dry analysis of the federal and state constitu¬ 
tions—a kind of governmental anatomy as it were. 
Preparation for citizenship was considered satisfactory 
if the individual had a good general education, a knowl- 


398 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


edge of the history of the United States with emphasis 
upon the military exploits and chronology and a knowl¬ 
edge of the structure of American government. 

The theory that citizenship is a by-product of educa¬ 
tion seems to have served fairly well during the early 
decades of the life of the republic. The reason for this 
is fairly obvious. The population of our nation up to 
comparatively recent times was quite homogeneous. The 
forefathers of America were descended from Northern 
Europeans, most of them from the Anglo Saxon stock, 
with common traditions to build upon. Our forefathers 
experienced no great difficulty in meeting the govern¬ 
mental problems of their time without specific training 
for citizenship. Moreover, American governmental in¬ 
stitutions of a hundred years ago were not complex, 
being designed chiefly for the protection of life and 
property and for common defense in a land devoted for 
the most part to agriculture. A knowledge of such in¬ 
stitutions and their workings could be passed on with¬ 
out specific training for citizenship in the schools. The 
early Americans believed with Jefferson that the best 
form of government is that which governs as little as 
possible; they were extremely jealous of any extension 
of federal governmental powers over the states and 
were moreover inclined to limit the powers of the state 
governments to a minimum. As for municipal govern¬ 
ments, the vast majority of the people were untouched 
by them. Until after the Civil War, American govern¬ 
ment was so simple, comparatively speaking, that the 
nation was hardly conscious of any need for specific 
training for citizenship. Brief courses in American 
history and civil government sufficed to meet the need. 

Toward the end of the last century, however, the 


WOOD 


399 


American people awoke to the need for better and more 
specific training for civic duties and responsibilities. 
The reasons for this awakening are various and by no 
means obscure. Out of a total population of one hun¬ 
dred million people in 1920, approximately fifteen mil¬ 
lions were born in foreign lands. A large proportion 
of the foreign born, especially those who had come since 
1880, had immigrated from countries dififering vastly 
from ours in language, ideals, customs and institutions. 
There were many millions more born in America of for¬ 
eign parents who had not grasped the principles under¬ 
lying American institutions. Moreover a great change 
had come in the domestic life of America. Whereas, the 
census of 1790 showed only 3 per cent of the American 
people living in cities and towns, the census of 1920 
showed more than 52 per cent in cities and towns. 
Whereas, the population of the republic of Washing¬ 
ton’s time was almost wholly agricultural, the republic 
of our time is chiefly industrial and commercial. Where¬ 
as, our forefathers being farmers, were for the most 
part economically independent, the people of our own 
time, through the operation of the principle of division 
of labor, are socially and economically dependent upon 
one another to a remarkable degree. Whereas, America 
in 1790 was an isolated state; America in 1922 is one 
of the world’s greatest powers. All of these factors 
have tended to make American institutions of today 
vastly more complex than the institutions of our fore¬ 
fathers’ time. The successful working of these institu¬ 
tions depends upon a reasonable understanding of them 
by those who are entrusted with the responsibility for 
government. No governor can successfully manage a 
governmental machine which he does not understand. 


400 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Inasmuch as the governors of America are the people 
themselves, greater complexity of institutions makes 
specific training for citizenship a prime necessity. We 
must, therefore, present a twentieth-century program of 
training for citizenship to meet the needs of twentieth- 
century America. 

In determining what shall be offered as training for 
citizenship, it is necessary to consider what are the 
duties and responsibilities for which we are training. 
We must apply to citizenship some of the principles of 
job analysis so useful in industry. What are some of 
the things that one should know and be able to do in 
order to be a good American citizen? It is impossible, 
at this time, to offer a complete analysis, but there are 
certain things which are obviously a part of the good 
citizen’s equipment. 

It is obvious, for example, that no man liveth to him¬ 
self alone. From the hour of birth, the individual is a 
member of a community. His first social contact is 
with his family, the oldest and most fundamental of all 
human institutions. When he develops powers of loco¬ 
motion, he widens his sphere, making contacts with the 
members of the neighborhood, particularly with other 
children. At the age of five or six, he enters the school 
where he enlarges his social contacts and he gets a 
wider vision of his place in the world. Schooling com¬ 
pleted, he takes up his share of the world’s burden by 
espousing a vocation or means of livelihood, thus relat¬ 
ing himself to industry. When he emerges into full 
manhood, he becomes a member of the local body politic, 
with the right to a part in directing the civic activities 
of the community. The individual is first of all a citizen 
of the community in which he lives and with which he 


WOOD 


401 


will have his closest contacts throughout life. Into this 
life he must be fitted in order that he may properly serve 
and be served. As he grows in social contacts, he must 
be given an understanding of the life about him, so he 
may adjust himself to it. 

. James Bryce in his great work on modern democra¬ 
cies points out that the habit of local self-government is 
the best training for democratic government in a nation. 
Knowledge of local institutions he deems essential, but 
he says that practice is necessary to vivify such knowl¬ 
edge. When the community was simple in organiza¬ 
tion and our population homogeneous, the knowledge 
necessary for good citizenship in the community might 
be handed down from generation to generation in inci¬ 
dents of family and community life. But the modern 
community is by no means simple in organization. In 
the city, the congestion of population has forced the de¬ 
velopment of community enterprises unknown to our 
forefathers. The close contacts of great bodies of citi¬ 
zens in a city are fraught with dangers which must be 
guarded against. In every community, health, for ex¬ 
ample, is a prime essential. In cities especially, eternal 
vigilance is the price of health. The history of London 
during the middle ages, when plague followed plague, 
carrying off scores of thousands of people because of 
lack of sanitation and health agencies, is still a warning 
to negligent modern communities. The modern city 
must have its street cleaning brigades, its quarantine 
agencies, its sanitary inspectors, its sewer system, its 
supervision of water supply, its smoke-controlling ordi¬ 
nances, and its food inspectors, if community health is 
to be maintained. Safety, too, is a matter of vital con¬ 
cern. For the protection of life and property against 


402 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


violence and theft, a police department is necessary. For 
protection against accidents, traffic regulations and traf¬ 
fic squads to enforce them must be provided. Hospitals 
and ambulances must be maintained to care for victims 
of accident. A fire department must stand ready to meet 
emergencies. Authoritative agencies to maintain and 
control all of these community functions must be estab¬ 
lished at public expense and with community sanction. 
Inasmuch as the people govern these agencies, they 
must be intelligent about them if they are to be made to 
function efficiently. It is becoming apparent more and 
more, however, that the best authoritative governmental 
agencies are unable to meet the vast swarm of dangers 
in our cities. Policemen alone cannot prevent crime, 
nor can firemen alone prevent fire. We must supple¬ 
ment authority with public cooperation if our lives and 
property are to be made safe. Only by educating people 
generally to keep their homes clean, to be careful about 
combustibles, to avoid contagion, to guard against care¬ 
lessness while on the streets and so on, can we main¬ 
tain life in our cities on a reasonably wholesome plane. 
Knowledge of the community and its multiform activi¬ 
ties and training in cooperation in community life— 
these constitute the hope of the American city where 
more lives are needlessly sacrificed each year than were 
lost by America during the great world war. Com¬ 
munity civics must therefore be given a prominent place 
in our training for citizenship. 

It is also obvious that the citizen maintains close rela¬ 
tions with industry in the community, the state and the 
nation. The good citizen is a worker, a contributor to 
the common weal. He has a vocation in which he earns 
his way in the world. He should understand the rela- 


WOOD 


403 


tion of his job to the whole great world of industry. He 
should also have a reasonable understanding of eco¬ 
nomic and social facts and principles underlying indus¬ 
try generally, inasmuch as these facts and principles 
give rise to political action in which he shares. The 
very independence of mankind renders an understand¬ 
ing of economic principles necessary for the proper ex¬ 
ercise of the citizen’s prerogatives. To illustrate, the 
power necessary for industry was formerly developed 
in the immediate neighborhood from coal or water 
wheels.. Today power generated in the mountains is 
transmitted long distances and distributed through vast 
complicated systems. Our cities are dependent for their 
very life upon the efforts of power plant operators and 
linemen. Water is impounded in mountain valleys and 
conveyed along canals to fields hundreds of miles from 
the source of water. The success of this whole enter¬ 
prise depends upon cooperation. A vast network of 
railroads has been built up to transport the nation’s 
produce. Recently we found to our sorrow how striking 
railroad workers might affect the lives of people in 
whole nations. Marketing is no longer local, the pro¬ 
duce of the Pacific Coast being offered in the cities of 
the Atlantic Coast, and the manufactured goods of the 
Atlantic seaboard being sold on the Pacific slope. Great 
trusts have evolved during the last forty years with 
power to affect life in every community in America. 
Labor organizations have grown tremendously in re¬ 
cent years, with power to affect the processes of pro¬ 
duction and distribution throughout the nation. The 
political issues of our time center chiefly about trans¬ 
portation, railway rates, marketing, labor problems, the 
regulation of trusts, the control of public utilities and 


404 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


taxation. All of these problems involve economic and 
social principles. They cannot be settled off hand by 
resolutions or laws. Their solution depends upon a 
knowledge of the economic principles involved and of 
governmental agencies available to cope with the prob¬ 
lems. Problems of this nature can be solved only by 
intelligent action. American citizens whose voices de¬ 
termine the course of action whether by state or nation, 
to meet these problems must therefore be acquainted 
with the economic and social principles involved. They 
must also understand the principles of national and 
state government in order to select the means for ef¬ 
fective control or regulation. The growing complexity 
of modern life and the increasing interdependence of 
our people demand governmental organization adequate 
to handle the problems these things bring. 

A while ago in discussing community life I quoted a 
Scriptural statement that no man liveth to himself 
alone. I would also point out that in the twentieth cen¬ 
tury, no nation liveth to itself alone. America is today 
a member of the great family of nations—a leader of 
the nations. The American people have established such 
economic relations with the rest of the world, that we 
can not but be interested in the affairs of the rest of the 
world. The collapse of Germany, the failure of industry 
in Russia, a revolution in Mexico—all these things con¬ 
cern us because they affect the markets for American 
goods. America has become a great selling nation and 
her sales abroad will increase with the years. America 
has also become a great manufacturing nation, requir¬ 
ing raw materials produced in South America and in 
the Orient. The last century of American life con¬ 
cerned itself largely with domestic affairs; the present 


WOOD 


405 


century will concern itself largely with foreign affairs 
because even our domestic affairs are being affected 
more and more by our foreign relations. The foreign 
relations of America, under our form of government, 
will be determined finally by the voters of America. 
They cannot be settled on a basis of provincialism. If 
we have close relations with our neighbors we should 
take pains to know something of our neighbors—their 
history, their institutions, their traditions. Prudence 
and self interest dictate that Americans shall devote 
more time to the study of the history and customs of 
other nations with which we have dealings. It is neces¬ 
sary for the maintenance of trade relations. It is also 
necessary for the peace of America and of the world. 
Wars are due chiefly to misunderstandings between na¬ 
tions, and misunderstanding between nations is due 
chiefly to lack of understanding of one another. World 
peace and concord depend upon the elimination of pro¬ 
vincialism and the study of the history and institutions 
of our neighbors to a degree enabling us to maintain 
peaceful relations with them. The citizen of America 
must therefore broaden his knowledge of history and of 
institutions in order to understand the international 
problems he must assist in solving. 

Finally, the citizen of America must develop an un¬ 
derstanding and appreciation of American ideals. A 
study of the history and institutions of foreign coun¬ 
tries should not be allowed to dim our eyes to the glory 
of America and American ideals. I have no sympathy 
with any movement which would subordinate American 
ideals to those of a colorless and characterless interna¬ 
tionalism. Cooperation with other nations to preserve 
peace does not necessitate the surrender of our peculiar 


406 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ideals. God made us different, He expects us to be 
different. Nay, He commanded Israel to stand out and 
be a peculiar people. Ten of Israel’s tribes in Babylo¬ 
nian bondage surrendered their peculiar ideals and were 
lost forever. The other two tribes were true to their 
peculiar faith and they live today, not only in the flesh 
but also in the religious ideals of the world’s leading 
nations. In literature and history, in song and story, 
we should strive to keep alive the peculiar national pur¬ 
poses of America. The ideals of the Declaration of In¬ 
dependence, of the Constitution, of Washington’s Fare¬ 
well Address, of Lincoln’s Inaugural and Gettysburg 
speeches, of Theodore Roosevelt’s powerful appeals for 
righteousness and of Woodrow Wilson’s famous mes¬ 
sages—all of these deserve a high place in the training 
of our future citizens. 

My plan is for greater emphasis on the teaching of 
the social science in our schools. We are fast approach¬ 
ing a time when the great majority of American citi¬ 
zens will have at least a high school education. Upon 
such a basis we may build a course of training for citi¬ 
zenship. During the first six years of the twelve-year 
course, our citizenship training should center about na¬ 
tional holidays, hero tales and moral training. Specific 
training for citizenship should, I believe, begin with a 
two-year course in community civics in the seventh and 
eighth years. In the high school proper, three years of 
social science in preparation for citizenship should be 
required to meet the extended needs of our times. At 
least one year should be given to world history with em¬ 
phasis on modern times, particularly on industrial econ¬ 
omies and social movements as a basis for understand¬ 
ing of international relations. One year should be de- 


WOOD 


407 


voted to American history with the same emphasis on 
economic and social factors. The third year should be 
devoted to a study of civics, economics and problems 
of American democracy. Equipped with a knowledge 
of these subjects, and with experience in citizenship 
such as one should get through proper school organ¬ 
ization, our young people should go out into the world 
with reasonable preparation to meet the problems of 
American democracy. 

/America still has faith in government by consent of 
the governed; in the unalienable rights of man to life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness; in equality of op¬ 
portunity; in government of the people, by the people 
and for the people. But America’s problems multiply. 
The clouds gather on the horizon nor do they readily 
disappear. We must see that the ideals of America are 
not lost in the clouds and that the clouds themselves 
are dispelled. There is that which will dispel the clouds 
and at the same time reveal anew the glory of the ideals 
of America. The mystic power that drives away the 
mists and resolves the difficulties of the hour is light. 
What America needs; what the whole world needs is 
light—the light which reveals humanity to itself and 
makes democracy something more than a shibboleth. 
For the betterment of American citizenship, Hat lux — 
let there be light, and let it be abundant 


408 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


EDUCATIONAL IDEALS 

Address delivered by Mrs. Grace C. Stanley, Commis¬ 
sioner of Elementary Schools, State of California, 
at a San Bernardino County Institute* 

In the midst of the strife and competition of the 
modern world with its accompaniment of soul agony, 
arises the cry for peace. Paralyzing fear of another 
world war grips us and we rush from one expediency 
to another in a vain search for salvation from impend¬ 
ing disaster. The church has failed us, the home is 
wrecked, law is flouted, the school has grown flabby. 
What can save us from destruction? 

Let us analyze the situation to see what is responsible 
for the hysteria which seems to have taken hold of peo¬ 
ple’s minds and how it may be cured. 

The first great misconception is regarding the source 
from which help may come. No institution, agency or 
organization can help except as it is directed by strong, 
fearless, consecrated men and women. The kingdom 
of heaven is within and does not come by force from 
without. There will be no peace until we have earned 
it as individuals. 

The problem then which faces us is how to grow 
these strong, fearless, consecrated men and women. 
Law of itself is impotent; if the home shirks its duty 
there is no way whereby society can compel any real 
performance; the church does not come in contact with 


Printed through the courtesy of Mrs. Stanley. 




STANLEY 


409 


child life, our raw material out of which we must con¬ 
struct a race fit for peace. I he school is the agency 
which society has selected as its means of self protec¬ 
tion; it is controlled by society and it comes in contact 
with most of our children. If our schools fail to per¬ 
form their function then the members of society indi¬ 
vidually and collectively are responsible and the blame 
cannot be shifted to any one group. 

Those who find fault with the schools as at present 
organized fall roughly into four classes. 

The first group are those who are always looking 
for perfection in the past instead of looking for it in 
the future. They are hopeless because they cling to 
an illusion as an argument and refuse to accept any 
new idea. 

The second group are those who object to the rising 
cost of education, usually because they have great pos¬ 
sessions. They are open to an argument. If you can 
show that it pays in dollars and cents directly in their 
pockets they can be reached. 

The third group object to education because they are 
convinced that certain members of society are destined 
to be masters and the rest to be their servants. As tlie 
second group would establish an aristocracy of wealth, 
so this group would have an aristocracy of birth. The 
only way to meet this group is by demonstrating as 
completely as may be the power of education to trans¬ 
form children into worthy citizens regardless of their 
previous environment. 

Criticisms that come from the fourth group we may 
consider carefully, for they are the ones who, while 
recognizing that education has made progress, still, in 
order to do so, its great work of regeneration in the 
world must do immeasurably greater things. We must 


410 PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 

not stop with better, we must constantly strive after 
perfection. 

The aim of education in the early days of our history 
was definitely to teach a sectarian religion. When it 
was taken over by the state the formal religious train¬ 
ing was gradually eliminated and a more vague ideal 
took its place, that of training for citizenship. In prac¬ 
tice, however, the acquiring of the tools of learning be¬ 
came the great objective and the more subtle spiritual 
objectives we have hoped w'ould result as a valuable 
product. 

Under the complexities of modern living we can no 
longer leave character building to chance, but must 
make that our first aim and let the acquisition of the 
tools of academic learning become the by-product. 

The best statement of the aim of education that I 
have found has been made by Maxwell Garnett, dean 
of the Institute of Technology,, Manchester, England, 
in his monumental work, “Education and World Cit¬ 
izenship.” lie states: “Scientifically organized knowl¬ 
edge into one wide interest, rather than several discon¬ 
nected interests, and the whole moved by a supreme 
and dominating purpose in harmony with those of one’s 
neighbors, is the aim of education.” 

If we consider our usual school practice in the light 
of this aim we shall have to admit that with universal 
knowledge divided up and each section closely confined 
in a textbook, with the school day cut into tiny bits, 
each exclusively devoted to the consideration of one 
of the sections into which we have divided universal 
knowledge, we could not have devised a system better 
calculated to defeat the aim of “scientifically organized 
knowledge into one wide interest.” 


STANLEY 


411 


This same practice, interfering as it does with the 
development of the power of concentration, sends many 
of our young people out from our schools with no clear¬ 
ly defined purpose. If our children are lacking in this 
respect it is because we grownups have interfered with 
theii normal development. If the purposes which some 
of our children have are met in harmony, again we have 
failed because we have not allowed them to have free 
intercourse with each other. So far, only the play¬ 
ground has given opportunity for spontaneous social 
relationships, but since that develops only the play side 
and not the work side of child life we have young peo¬ 
ple entering upon responsibilities of adult life knowing 
how to play fair, but not knowing how to work fair. 
The same freedom which we have on the playground, 
the same opportunity for the spontaneous growth of 
common progress must be allowed in the school room. 

The day will come when we shall feel as reverent in 
the presence of childhood as the prophet when he said, 
“And a little child shall lead them.” 


412 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


ALL MIND* 

By A. C. Olney, Commissioner of Secondary Education, 
State of California 

All mind, says H. G. Wells, is divided into two parts 
or types. The one interprets the present in terms of 
the past; the other thinks of the present in connection 
with what is to come from it in the future. The for¬ 
mer he calls the legal or submissive type; the latter 
the legislative, the constructive, or the masterful one. 
Both types are, of course, present in the normal indi¬ 
vidual; the dominant type shows itself in the method 
of approach in attacking a problem. 

The legal outlook is that of the great majority, the 
creative mind that of comparatively few. The habit of 
judging the present by reference to the past perhaps 
explains the trend of certain statements which have 
been handed down to us from the past concerning the 
character of the youth of various periods. 

From the beginning of written history, every gen¬ 
eration has had its pessimistic fling at the younger gen¬ 
eration of the time. It is said that the oldest known 
piece of writing in Egyptian hieroglyphics, set down 
some five thousand years ago, consists in a lament over 
the passing of the good old days. 

Over 1400 years B. C., the Lord is reported to have 
said, “Surely there shall not one of these men of this 

*An address delivered to the Principals of California, Santa Cruz, 
April 15, 1924. Printed by permission of Mr. Olney. 




OLNEY 


413 


evil generation see the good land which I sware to give 
into your fathers.”. The Prophet Isaiah 700 years B. 
C. is quoted as saying, “Now go, write it before them 
in a table and note it in a book that it may be for the 
time to come forever and ever. That this is a rebel¬ 
lious people, lying children, children that will not hear 
the word of the Lord/ ” 

“Ye have done worse than your fathers,” wrote Jere¬ 
miah 100 years later, “for behold ye walk every one 
after the imagination of his evil heart that they may 
not hearken unto me.” 

Sixty-three years B. C., Cicero bewailed the changed 
condition of his generation. “O temporal O mores!” 
he exclaimed. 

The poet Goldsmith in the Deserted Village, written 
in 1770, is evidently sincere in the lines: 

“Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 

Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. 

“A time there was, ere England’s griefs began, 
When every rood of ground maintained its man; 

“But times are altered; trade’s unfeeling train 
Usurp the land and dispossess the swain.” 

Washington, in writing to his friend Benjamin Har¬ 
rison in 1778, said: “If I was to be called upon to draw 
a picture of the times and of men, from what I have 
seen and heard and in part known, I should in one 
word say that idleness, dissipation, and extravagance 
seem to have laid hold of most of them; that specula¬ 
tion, peculation and an insatiable thirst for riches seem 
to have got the better of every other consideration and 
almost every order of men. I need not repeat to you 
that I am alarmed and wish to see my countrymen 
aroused.” 





414 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Professor Gayley, in 1909, in delivering the com¬ 
mencement address at the University of Michigan, 
spoke in somewhat similar fashion: 

“The world of learning was never more worth pre¬ 
paring for. Why is it then that from every univer¬ 
sity in the land and from every serious journal there 
goes up the cry: 'Our young people were never more 
indifferent. How many nights does the student spend 
in pursuits non-academic? how great a proportion of 
his days? What with so-called “college activities” by 
which he must prove his allegiance to the university, 
and social functions by which he must recreate his jaded 
soul, no margin is left for the one and only college ac¬ 
tivity—which is to study. Class meetings, business 
meetings, committee meetings, editorial meetings, foot¬ 
ball rallies, baseball rallies, pyjama rallies, vicarious ath¬ 
letics on the bleachers, garrulous athletics in the dining 
room and parlor and on the porch, rehearsals of the 
glee club, rehearsals of the mandolin club and of the 
banjo, rehearsals for dramatics (a word to stand the 
hair on end), college dances and class banquets, fra¬ 
ternity dances and suppers, preparations for the dances 
and banquets, more committees for the preparations; 
a running up and down the campus for ephemeral items 
for ephemeral articles in ephemeral papers; a solicit¬ 
ing for advertisements; a running up and down in col¬ 
lege politics, making tickets, pulling wires, adjusting 
combinations, canvassing for votes,—spending hours at 
sorority houses for votes—spending hours at sorority 
houses for sentiment; talking rubbish increasingly, 
thinking rubbish, revamping rubbish—rubbish about 
high jinks, rubbish about low, rubbish about rallies, 


OLNEY 


415 


rubbish about pseudo-civic honor, rubbish about girls;— 
what margin of leisure is left for the one activity of 
the college, which is study ?’ ” 

Every intervening generation supplied criticisms of 
its^youth and the evil times upon which they were fallen. 

My grandpa notes the world’s worn cogs and says 
we’re going to the dogs. His granddad, in his house 
of logs, swore things were going to the dogs. His dad, 
among the Flemish bogs, vowed things were going to 
the dogs. The cave man in his queer skin togs said 
things were going to the dogs. 

But that is what I wish to state: The dogs have 
had an awful wait.” 

If each generation had been a little worse than the 
preceding, some Darwin would have long since devised 
a doctrine of devolution to account for the descent of 
man. This generation has its critics of our youth. 
Perhaps these same pessimists were once young them¬ 
selves. If so, they were probably criticised in their 
turn. Of them B. L. Stevenson says: 

“A man finds that he has been wrong at every pre¬ 
ceding stage of his career only to deduce the astonish¬ 
ing conclusion that he is at last entirely right.” 

Critics have always been abroad in the land. The 
pessimist today maintains that the terrible Teapot Dome 
scandal shows that there is general corruption in gov¬ 
ernment circles and that every man has his price. If 
he really thinks this, it may be well when next you hear 
this sentiment to keep one hand on your pocket book. 
The only other alternative is that the pessimist hasn’t 
taken all the facts into consideration. He needs to re¬ 
call the days following the Civil War when Boss Tweed 
and his ring systematically and shamelessly, over a 


416 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


period of years, stole $100,000,000 from the city of 
New York. The case was notorious, the citizens apa¬ 
thetic. Similar cases developed in other large cities. 
Criminals always seize the opportunity when the atten¬ 
tion of their intended victims is directed elsewhere to 
make a haul, whether it be a sneak-thief invading a 
village on circus day, or a traitor looting his country 
while the real men are fighting for it. 

The instant popular indignation and disgust shown 
today over the disclosures of corruption of government 
officials is a certain sign of a public conscience on 
guard,—an indication that America is prepared to clean 
house. Her ideals are uninjured. They may need to 
be dusted off a little after the house-cleaning. 

Our ideals were personified in our national heroes. 
Washington represented Liberty under law; Lincoln, 
honor, kindness, honesty, courage; Roosevelt, sports¬ 
manship and the square deal; Wilson, stimulation to 
service; Herbert Hoover, equality of opportunity. These 
two ideals last named represent our changing definition 
of our aspirations. In the history of the expanding 
meaning of these ideals is bound up the history of our 
spiritual growth as a nation. 

Ex-Commissioner of Education Claxton once said: 

“If democracy has any valuable and ultimate mean¬ 
ing, it is equality of opportunity. But there can be 
no equality of opportunity without equality of oppor¬ 
tunity in education. If to any child this is denied and 
it is permitted to grow to manhood or womanhood with¬ 
out that education which prepares it for good living, 
for the duties and responsibilities of citizenship and for 
making an honest living by some intelligent, useful oc¬ 
cupation, then there is nothing which individuals or so- 


OLNEY 417 

ciety can do, nothing which man or God can do to 
make good the loss.” 

“Our individualism,” says Hoover, “differs from all 
others because it embraces these great ideals: that 
while we build our society upon the attainment of the 
individual we shall safeguard to every individual an 
equality of opportunity to take that position in the com¬ 
munity to which his intelligence, character, ability and 
ambition entitle him; that we keep the social solution 
free from frozen strata of classes; that we shall stim¬ 
ulate effort of each individual to achievement; that 
through an enlarging sense of responsibility and un¬ 
derstanding we shall assist him to this attainment while 
he in turn must stand up to the emery-wheel of com¬ 
petition.” 

Our ideal of equality of opportunity formerly meant 
an opportunity to run the gauntlet at the end of which 
the survivor received an education for some profession. 
Even yet we must provide one hundred at the beginning 
of the gauntlet in order to secure two who will win 
through to the goal. 

Equality of opportunity today means the recognition 
of the wide variation among individuals and the offer¬ 
ing of an opportunity to each one to make the most of 
his own abilities and capacities for himself first, and 
then for service to others. 

Intelligence should not be the only trait to be used 
in determining whether or no the door of opportunity 
in education shall swing open. At the University of 
Washington, Professor Alex C. Roberts made a study 
of the records of the students whose intelligence rating 
was very low, D and E. A little over half of this group 
had made satisfactory university records. The univer- 


418 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


sity record of many showed great improvement during 
the four years and several made honor grades. They 
possessed desirable traits of character not measured by 
the intelligence tests. It is still an open question as to 
whether any tests yet devised adequately measure in¬ 
telligence. We are sure that no satisfactory tests have 
yet been made that measure other qualities perhaps just 
as valuable as high intelligence. Equality of oppor¬ 
tunity in education means not only a chance to start out 
to secure one type of training, but a chance to secure 
that kind which is best suited to his need and to his 
capacity. 

A high school whose curriculum was made thirty 
years ago and has not undergone radical changes since, 
was either far from efficient then or is a misfit now. 
The content of many, perhaps most, secondary curricula 
need revision. Waste matter needs to be discarded to 
make way for more valuable and more interesting ma¬ 
terial. Some subjects already repeated in the elemen¬ 
tary school are again repeated in the high school. 

Penmanship, spelling and arithmetic are some of 
these. Textbook repetition in the lower schools is to be 
condemned. A second repetition is inexcusable. Large 
blocks of certain courses in English literature which 
remain in our curricula because they always have been 
there or because some specialist had once placed them 
there, serve little purpose save to discourage and to 
drive away those who can find no interest in them. 
Many are inferior, some are only stupid, a few are 
vicious. Others make an appeal neither to childhood 
nor to adolescence. Let us away with all such! 

No doubt much of this classic material “ought” to 
be appreciated. But perhaps maturity is necessary to 


OLNEY 


419 


secure that appreciation. It may be that there is some 
modern material which would be appreciated. Modern 
material is not necessarily bad. 

Odette Gastinel, a 13-year-old French girl at school 
near the battle-front during the World War, wrote of 
the coming of American troops to France. 

“It was only a little river, almost a brook; it was 
called the Yser. One could talk from one side to the 
other without raising one’s voice, and the birds could 
Hy over it with one sweep of their wings. And on the 
two banks there were millions of men, the one turned 
toward the other, eye to eye. But the distance which 
separated them was greater than the spaces between 
the stars in the sky; it was the distance which sepa¬ 
rates right from injustice. 

“The ocean is so vast that the sea-gulls do not dare 
to cross it. During seven days and seven nights the 
great steamships of America, going at full speed, drive 
through the deep waters before the lighthouses of 
France come into view; but from one side to the other 
hearts are touching.” 

Joyce Kilmer’s poem breathes beauty in every line: 

“I think that 1 shall never see 
A poem lovelier than a tree. 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; 

A tree that looks at God all day 
And lifts her leafy arms to pray; 

A tree that may in summer wear 
A nest of robins in her hair; 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain; 

Who intimately lives with rain. 


420 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Poems are made by fools like me 
But only God can make a tree.” 

No voice of pessimism in these poems! Pessimism 
is the voice of advancing age. The radicalism of youth 
of which the critics complain gives way with advanc¬ 
ing years to conservatism. Robert Louis Stevenson 
once wrote: 

“There is something irreverent in the suggestion, but 
perhaps the want of power has more to do with the wise 
resolutions of age than we are always willing to admit. 
It would be an instructive experiment to make an old 
man young again and leave him all his savoir. I scarce¬ 
ly think he would put his money in the savings bank 
after all; I doubt if he would be such an admirable son 
as we are led to expect. 

“If a man lives to any considerable age, it can not 
be denied that he laments his imprudences, but I notice 
he often laments his youth a deal more bitterly and 
with a more genuine intonation. 

“Youth is the time to go flashing from one end of 
the world to the other, both in mind and body; to try 
the manners of different nations; to hear the chimes 
at midnight; to see sunrise in town and country; to 
be converted at a revival; to circumnavigate the meta¬ 
physics, write halting verses, run a mile to see a fire, 
and wait all day long in the theater to applaud Hernani. 

“To love playthings well as a child, to lead an adven¬ 
turous and honorable youth, and to settle when the time 
comes into a green and smiling age, is to be a good 
artist in life and deserve well of yourself and your 
neighbor.” 

It is time for all teachers, parents and other good 


OLNEY 


421 


citizens, to bewail our misfortune if it ever comes to 
that when our youth lose a certain amount of radical¬ 
ism, buoyancy, high spirits, and lofty ideals. 

When this condition comes, tradition will hold us in 
his power, and we shall become a nation with a back¬ 
ward look. As Professor Gayley says, our ideals will 
become idols, incapable of growth. Our institutions 
must maintain a certain elasticity, that they may carry 
forward the banners of our ideals and plant them on 
new heights when the main body of our army of public 
opinion has caught up with the first objectives. The 
new heights are the new and higher interpretations of 
the old names. 

Those who use the past and present to interpret the 
future realize that progress grows ever more rapid. 
The evolution of man from the elemental stirrings of 
life to his present position argue as great a progress 
in the future. Wells says: 

'‘All this world is heavy with the promise of greater 
things, and a day will come, one day in the unending 
succession of days, when beings, beings who are now 
latent in our thoughts and hidden in our loins, shall 
stand upon this earth as one stands upon a footstool, 
and shall laugh and reach out their hands among the 
stars.” 


422 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


THE NEED OF THE HOUR 
Edwin Markham* 

Fling forth the triple-colored flag to dare 
The bright, untraveled highways of the air. 
Blow the undaunted bugles, blow, and yet 
Let not the boast betray us to forget. 

Lo, there are high adventures for this hour— 
Tourneys to test the sinews of our power. 
For we must parry—as the years increase— 
The hazards of success, the risks of peace! 

What do we need to keep the nation whole, 
To guard the pillars of the state.? We need 
The fine audacities of honest deed; 

The homely old integrities of soul; 

The swift temerities that take the part 
Of outcast right—the wisdom of the heart; 
Brave hopes that Mammon never can detain, 
Nor sully with his gainless clutch for gain. 
We need the Cromwell fire to make us feel 
The common burden and the public trust 
To be a thing as sacred and august 
As the white vigil where the angels kneel 
We need the faith to go a path untrod, 

The power to be alone and vote with God. 


♦From ‘‘Lincoln and Other Poems.” Printed with the permission 
of our great poet, Edwin Markham. 



SELECTIONS 


423 


v y 

4 SELECTIONS SUITABLE FOR ASSIGNMENTS* 

Ames—What is Patriotism? 

Austin—To America. 

Bates—America the Beautiful. 

Beck—The True Meaning of America. 

Bridges—A Toast to Our Native Land. 

Brooks, Fred Emerson—General Grant's Greatest 
Victory. 

Lee at Appomattox. 

The Soldier's Ooath. 

The Battle Field. 

Bryant—Centennial Hymn. 

The Death of Slavery. 

Oh Mother of a Mighty Race. 

Seventy-Six. 

Song of Marion’s Men. 

Channing—The True Distinction of a State. 

Clay—Our Duty to Our Country. 

Collins—How Sleep the Brave. 

Coxe, Arthur Cleveland—America. 

Crane, Dr. Frank—A Patriotic Creed for Americans. 
Curtis—Centennial Celebration of the Concord Fight. 

True Patriotism. 

Dewey—America. 

Doane—The Men to Make a State. 

Dwight—Columbia. 

Emerson—Boston Hymn. 

Freedom. 

A Nation's Strength. 


*These selections have been suggested by 200 teachers of San 
Bernardino and Chaffey Districts and other districts of San Bernar¬ 
dino County who have been taking with me the course, The Consti¬ 
tution and American Ideals." 



424 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Everett—Speech at Plymouth Rock, 1853. 

Sufferings and Destiny of the Pilgrims. 

Finch—Nathan Hale. 

Garrison—Liberty for All. 

Gibbons (Cardinal)—Centennial Prayer. 

Gordon (General)—Gettysburg, a Mecca for Blue 
and Gray. 

Grover—The American Boy’s Creed. 

Guest—Memorial Day. 

A Patriotic Creed. 

A Patriotic Wish. 

United States. 

Guiterman—Thank God for a Man! 

Hale—The Man Without a Country. 

Hay—Liberty. 

Harte—A Second Review of the Grand Army. 
California’s Greeting to Seward. 

The Aged Stranger. 

Hemans—The Landing of the Pilgrims. 

Holcomb—On the Rappahannock. 

Holland—God Give Us Men. 

Holmes—Grandmother’s Story of the Battle of 
Bunker Hill. 

The Flower of Liberty. 

Freedom Our Queen. 

Old Ironsides. 

Other Patriotic Selections. 

Hopkinson—American Independence. 

Howe—The Battle Hymn of the Republic. 

Hubbard—A Message to Garcia. 

Irving, Minna—Americans All. 

James—What Constitutes a State? 

Jefferson—Faith in Our Government. 



SELECTIONS 


425 


Jordan—What Is Patriotism? 

Kennedy—A Nation's Prayer. 

Lanier—America. 

Dear Land of All My Love. 

Land of the Wilful Gospel. 
Longfellow—The Building of the Ship. 
Paul Revere’s Ride. 

The Republic. 

The Slave’s Dream. 

Other Patriotic Selections. 

Lowell—The Present Crisis. 

The Pioneer. 

Stanzas on Freedom. 

Other Patriotic Selections. 
Mansfield—The Eagle’s Song. 
Markham—Freedom. 

The Mighty Hundred Years. 

To Young America. 

Consecrated Ground. 

Our Fleet in the West. 

Other Patriotic Selections. 

Monroe, Harriet—Democracy. 

Me Elroy—I Believe in America. 
McRea—In Flanders Fields. 

Nisbet—What Makes a Nation. 
O’Hara—The Bivouac of the Dead. 
O’Reilly—The Pilgrim Fathers. 
Partridge—Nathan Hale. 

Pierpont—Warren’s Address. 

Reade—The Rising of 1776. 

Sheridan’s Ride. 

Rooney—The Men Behind the Guns. 


426 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Roosevelt—Realizable Ideals. 

To the Boys of America. 

Scollard—Ad Patriam. 

Scott—My Native Land. 

Service—Carry On. 

Shelley—Tribute to America. 

Stedman—Hymn of the West. 

Stoddard—Men of the North and West. 

Turner—Western Idealism. 

Towne—To My Country. 

Venable—National Song. 

Van Dyke—America for Me. 

The Peaceful Warrior. 

Work. 

Wagner, Madge Morris—The New Liberty Bell. 
Webster—First Oration on Bunker Hill. 
Supposed Speech of John Adams. 

Reply to Hayne. 

Whitman—For You, O Democracy. 

I Hear America Singing. 

Other Patriotic Selections. 

Whittier—The Angels of Buena Vista. 

Barbara Fritchie. 

Brown of Ossawatomie. 

Centennial Hymn. 

Fremont's Campaigning Song. 

The Kansas Immigrants. 

Lexington. 

The Negro Boatman. 

The Quaker o i the Olden Time. 

Other Patriotic Selections. 


SELECTIONS 


427 


Wilson—Americans of Foreign Birth. 

Patriotic Addresses and Messages. 

Woodberry—O Land Beloved. 

Wordsworth—To the Pilgrim Fathers. 

Zetterburg—My Country"; 

£ SUGGESTIVE BOOKS FOR STUDIES IN 
AMERICAN PATRIOTISM 

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey—Book of Patriotism. 

Braithwaite—Anthology of Magazine Verse. 

Burth—Prose Every Child Should Know; published 
by Doubleday, Page & Co. 

Dening and Bemis—Pieces for Every Day the School 
Celebrates. 

Brooks—Pickett's Charge; published by Forbes & Co. 

Greenlaw & Hanford—The Great Tradition; published 
by Scott, Forsmen & Co. 

Guest—Poems of Patriotism. 

Gulliver—The Friendship of Nations; published by 
Ginn & Co. 

Houghton, Mifflin Co.—Masterpieces of American Lit¬ 
erature. 

Good Stories for Great Birthdays—Olcott. 

A Treasury of War Poetry—Clarke. 

Poems of American Patriotism—Stevenson. 

Complete works of Emerson, Holmes, Lowell, 
Longfellow, Whittier, Harte. 

Knowles—Poems of American Patriotism. 

Markham, Edwin—The Man with the Hoe and Other 
Poems. 

Lincoln and Other Poems. 


428 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


The Gates of Paradise. 

The Shores of Happiness. 

Messages and State Papers of the Presidents. . 

McClurg & Co., A. C.—American Patriotic Prose and 
Verse. 

Long—Patriotic Prose; published by D. C. Heath & Co. 

Powell—The Spirit of Democracy. 

Power—Poems for Memorizing; published by Harr 
Wagner Publishing Co. 

Roosevelt—The Great Adventure; published by Charles 
Scribner’s Sons. 

Realizable Ideals; published by the Harr Wagner 
Publishing Co. 

Shurter—Public Speaking. 

Smith—Peace and Patriotism; published by Lathrop, 
Lee & Shepard. 

Stevenson: 

Poems of American History. 

Scribner’s Sons, Charles—The Higher Patriotism. 

Skinner—Selections for Memorizing; published by Sil¬ 
ver, Burdett & Co. 

World Book Co.—The American Spirit—A Basis for 
World Democracy, by Monroe Miller. 

Martial Valor in Times of Peace, j 


LINCOLN BIBLIOGRAPHY 


429 


A SPECIAL LINCOLN BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Babcock, Bernie: 

Soul of Abe Lincoln. 

Soul of Ann Rutledge. 

Bacheller, Irving: 

A Man for the Ages. 

Bancroft, George: 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Bancroft, Geo., Simpson, Bishop and Starrs, R. S. 

Our Martyr President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln 
Memorial Addresses. 

Barton, Wm. E.: 

Soul of Abraham Lincoln. 

Bates, D. H.: 

Lincoln in the telegraph office—recollections of the 
U. S. military telegraph corps during the Civil 
War. 

Browne, Francis Fisher: 

Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

Chapman, Ervin: 

Latest light on Abraham Lincoln and War-Time 
Memories—Including many heretofore unpub¬ 
lished incidents and historical facts concerning 
his ancestry, boyhood, family, religion, public 
life, trials and triumphs. 

Charnwood, Lord: 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Draper, Andrew S.: 

Selections from Abraham Lincoln. 


430 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


George, Mariam M. and Coonley, Lydia Avery, eds.: 

Lincoln and Washington. 

Gerry, Margaret S.: 

Toy Shop. 

Nancy Hanks—Story of Abraham Lincoln's 
Mother. 

Jackson, S. Trevena: 

Lincoln’s Use of the Bible. 

Johnson, William J.: 

Abraham Lincoln, the Christian. 

Krans, H, S., ed.: 

Lincoln tribute book. Appreciations by statesmen, 
men of letters, and poets at home and abroad. 
Laughlin, Clara E.: 

Death of Lincoln. 

Miller, Francis Trevelyan: 

Portrait Life of Lincoln. 

Morgan, James: 

Abraham Lincoln—The boy and the man. 

Morse, John T., Jr.: 

Abraham Lincoln. 

(2 vols.) 

Oldroyd, Osborn H.: 

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 

Poets' Lincoln. 

Words of Lincoln — Including several hundred 
opinions of his life and character by eminent 
persons of this and other lands. 

Orations: The World’s Famous. 

Peters, Madison C.: 

Abraham Lincoln’s Religion. 


LINCOLN BIBLIOGRAPHY 


431 


Raymond, Henry J.: 

Life and public services of Abraham Lincoln , . . 
together with his State papers, including his 
speeches, addresses, messages, letters and proc¬ 
lamations. 

Rice, Allen T., ed.: 

Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by distin¬ 
guished men of his time. 

Roine, Jules Edouard: 

Lincoln Centennial Medal—Presenting the medal 
of A. Lincoln. 

Rothschild, Alonzo: 

‘'Honest Abe”—A study in integrity based on the 
early life of Lincoln. 

Snider, Denton J.: 

Abraham Lincoln—An interpretation in biography. 

Starr, John W., Jr.: 

Lincoln’s last day. 

Strunsky, Rose: 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Tarbell, Ida M.: 

Boy Scouts’ Life of Lincoln. 

Life of Abraham Lincoln. Drawn from original 
sources and containing many speeches, letters, 
and telegrams hitherto unpublished. 

(4 vols.) 

Tracy, Gilbert A., ed.: 

Uncollected Letters of Abraham Lincoln. 

The University Co., Inc. 

The Works of Abraham Lincoln. 


432 


PATRIOTIC WRITINGS 


Wheeler, Daniel E.: 

Abraham Lincoln. 

White, Charles T.: 

Lincoln and Prohibition. 

Whitlock, Brand: 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Wilbur, Henry W.: 

President Lincoln's attitude towards slavery and 
emancipation. 

Williams, A. Dallas—comp.: 

The praise of Lincoln, an Anthology. 

Wing, Henry E.: 

Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln—being extracts from 
the speeches, State papers, and letters of the 
great President. 



INDEX 


433 


INDEX 

Patriotic Writings for American Students 


Adams, Samuel .On American Independence. 

American Ideals, Teaching.Hill . 

American Legion Resolutions. 

Bibliography . 

Buchanan, James .Messages on Monroe Doctrine. 

Charter of Rhode Island. 

Cleveland, Grover .Messages on Monroe Doctrine. 

Messages on Arbitration. 

Constitution of the United States .-. 

Constitution, The Framers of....Abstract by Hill. 

Coolidge, President Calvin .Proclamation on Lincoln’s Birth- 


60 

6 

13 

423 

205 

71 

211 

330 

105 

97 


Creed, The American’s. 

Declaration of Independence 

Dedication . 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. 

Finch . 

Franklin, Benjamin . 


Day .-. 325 

Address on Washington. 153 

William Tyler Page. 5 

. 50 

. 3 

Concord Hymn . 70 

The Blue and the Gray. 318 

.Examination Before the House of 
Commons .-. 33 


Motion for Prayer, June 8, 1787.... 103 
Address on the Federal Constitu- 


Grant, Ulysses S. 

Green —.-. 

Hamilton, Alexander . 

Harte, Bret . 

Harwood, Edward C. 

Hay, John . 

Henry, Patrick . 

Hoge, Moses D. 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell 


tion . 130 

Messages on the Monroe Doctrine 20o 

Estimate of Washington. 151 

Speech on the Constitution. 133 

John Brown of Gettysburg. 303 

Introduction .-. 3 

Statement of Open Door Policy.. 353 
Address Before the Virginia Con¬ 


vention . 

.Stonewall Jackson 
Union and Liberty 


46 

320 

326 














































434 


INDEX 


Hughes, Charles Evans.Statement on Monroe Doctrine..,. 

Ingersoll, Robert .......Abraham Lincoln . 

Happiness and Liberty. 

Jackson, Andrew .Farewell Address .— 

Jefferson, Thomas .First Inaugural .. 

Lane, Franklin K.Makers of the Flag. 

The American Pioneer..... 

Why We Are at War. 

Lincoln, Abraham ......First Inaugural ... 

Second Inaugural ... 

Gettysburg Address ... 

Independence Hall Address..... 

Reverence for Law. 

Address on Temperance. 

Order for Sabbath Observance. 

Letter to Horace Greeley...—. 

Reply to Douglas at Galesburg.... 

“House Divided” Speech.. 

To Twelfth Indiana Regiment. 

To Citizens of Frederick. 

Markham’s Latest Lincoln Poem.. 
Watterson’s Address on Lincoln.. 
Ingersoll’s Address on Lincoln.... 

Cooper Union Address. 

Proclamation for Thanksgiving.... 
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth..The Arsenal at Springfield. 


Madison, James .Message Monroe Doctrine.. 

Markham, Edwin .The Fear for Thee, My Country.. 

The Need of the Hour. 

Our Deathless Dead. 

Latest Lincoln Poem. 


Mayflower Compact . 

Miller, Joaquin .Columbus .... 

Monroe, James .Announcement of Doctrine 

Message .... 

McKinley, William .Message on Arbitration.. 

Last Speech .. 

OIney, A. C.....All Mind . 


224 

265 

342 

142 

186 

362 

357 

382 

149 

315 

307 

56 

229 

309 

308 

311 

58 

230 

310 

312 

263 

290 

265 

231 

313 

328 

188 

145 

422 

323 

263 

22 

17 

194 

190 

335 

345 

412 












































INDEX 


435 


Olney, Richard .Communication on Monroe Doc¬ 
trine . 

Ordinance of 1787. 

Otis, James ...In Opposition to Writ of Assist¬ 
ance . 

Parkman, Francis .Introduction to Pioneers of France 

in the New World. 

Pierpont, John .The Pilgrim Fathers. 

Polk, James K.Messages on Monroe Doctrine 

Quinn, John R.Armistice Day Message. 

Redjacket on Religion of the White Man and the Red. 

Roosevelt, Theodore .The Great Adventure. 

Messages on the Monroe Doctrine 

Messages on Arbitration. 

Stanley, Mrs. Grace C.Educational Ideals . 

Stephens, Alexander H.Against Secession . 

Tyler, John ...Message on Monroe Doctrine. 

Washington, George .Farewell Address . 

Neutrality Proclamation . 

Fifth Annual Message. 

Green’s Estimate of. 

Coolidge’s Address . 

Watterson, Henry .Address on Abraham Lincoln. 

Webster, Daniel .On the Clay Compromise. 

Whittier, John Greenleaf.A Poor Voter on Election Day.... 

Wilson, Woodrow .These Lists of Honor. 

A People’s War. 

Soldiers of Freedom. 

America’s Pledge . 

Wood, Will C.Education for Citizenship. 


208 

89 

25 

19 

23 

194 

329 

93 

387 

218 

337 

408 

257 

196 

157 

180 

182 

151 

153 

290 

147 

391 

379 

365 

380 

363 

395 











































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